In Your Element
by emazingwaffle
Summary: A new update has come across ALO, completely changing the way combat works. This update brings new skills, friends, and foes. Kirito and the gang have to now battle against players with a new fighting style. Takes place after Mother's Rosario
1. Chapter 1

The van pulled in front of Kazuto's house. He thanked the driver and walked to the front door. He opens to door, "I'm home." Suguha pops her head out from behind a wall and goes to greet her brother. "Welcome home, Kazu. How was the camp?" He sighs and replies, "Horribly exhausting, they had an activity for every waking hour all week." Sugu giggles, "And you missed the newest update to ALO as well. Everyone got a head start." Kazu sits up on the couch. "Really? Damn, can't believe my luck." She sits next to him, "How about to celebrate your arrival, we get everyone online and we show you what's new?" He smiles, "Alright, let's do it."

Kirito spawns in his forest cabin home in Aincrad. He sits on one of the couches and is relieved to finally be back. Suddenly, a tiny fairy lands on his head, "Papa! Welcome back home! We missed you so much!" Kirito chuckles, "Hi Yui, I missed you guys too. Glad to be back." Suddenly the door opens and Leafa walks in, "Pardon me!" She walks to a chair and takes a seat. "So what's the name of this update?" Kirito asks. Leafa smiles and replies, "It's called Harnessing The Elements." Kirito looks at Leafa oddly, "Elements?" Leafa nods and continues, "You know how most races have an element associated with them? Well this update allows players to be able to harness those abilities without the use of incantations. Basically, you are able to use magic using your won willpower." Kirito's eyes widen with excitement. "However," Leafa continues, "Your power comes from your ability to control and use your element. Great skill is required, as the nature of ALO." Kirito stands up in excitement, "Regardless, I want to see what fighting styles arise from this update."

Eventually, everyone begins to log in. The only one unaccounted for would be Klein, most likely because he has work. Kirito was excited to see what extent the powers will change the game. Together, everyone heads to an open area in ALO to hunt some monsters.

Later…

The monster rushed Liz, with her barely avoiding due to Asuna's shout. Liz used the altitude to strike the monster's back. It roared in pain, and then blew a blast of fire aimed directly at Silica. She jumped out of the way and performed a bubble combo with Pina, stunning the monster. "Kirito, now!" Asuna yelled. Kirito then rushed the monster to slash and hack away. The monster blew away Kirito, sending him sprawling. Sinon noticed how low the monster's health was. She quickly took aim with her bow and aimed straight at the monster's eye. Naturally, she hit her mark, critically striking the beast, and killing it. Once the reward screen popped up, everyone took a breather.

"Man, there are a lot more elemental monsters in the wild than I remembered." Kirito sighed. "You're right, it's been like this ever since the update. It's really annoying." Sinon replied. "Which reminds me," Kirito said, "All of you had a head start on using your element, yet only Leafa took advantage of her power?" "Actually, I don't need to use that power since I already am good at spells. Using the element will only drain my MP faster." Asuna replied. Sinon put in her input as well, "I am not really a fan of heavily relying on magic…mostly since I can't use it." Silica agrees, "Yeah, same here. I think it's harder or us since we already have the power to tame beasts. Giving us more magic will only make us OP." Kirito turns to Liz, "And what about you?" She nervously smiles, "Well, I can already use Sword skills, and I have a shield as well, so I guess I don't need it." Everyone laughs while Kirito sighs. Leafa couldn't use her power since she would be at a type disadvantage. Kirito still is working on awakening his power. He really wants to see the power in actions, but they keep running into type disadvantages.

"Also, Silica," Kirito turns to Silica, "How did you dye the end of your hair blue? And why?" She replies, "Why? Well, I thought it'd match my outfit and also kinda be like Pina. Of course it's not the right shade, but still. As for how…well…" Yui springs from Kirito's pocket, "its part of the update papa. It allows the dying of hair and clothes." "Oh, amazing. Finally they add more customization options in the game." Silica nods in agreement. "Well anyway," Leafa says, "Why don't we find more monsters to-" a sudden nearby explosion catches everyone off guard. "What was that?" Asuna asks. "No clue, but let's check it out." Kirito declares. Everyone nods in agreement and runs into the forest to investigate the explosion.

They didn't need to be in the clearing to see what was going on. A giant Marlboro was looking down at something. Everyone hides in the bushes to observe, and notice it's staring at a lone player. It was a male with dark brown hair and red eyes. He was wearing a black jacket falling to his waist. Underneath it he wore a black metal chest cover with a red shirt underneath. He was wearing dark red fitted jogger-looking pants, loose enough to move in, but snug enough to not look baggy. He was wearing black boots with red-colored accents. In his hand was a silver sword with a red hilt, wrapped in black string. Red edges stuck out of both sides of the sword. "Man," Sinon whispered, "This guy really took advantage of the new customizations." After looking at the player, they notice that the monster had a massive burn mark on the right side of its body, still smoking. The monster started to inhale, looking like's preparing to attack.

"That guy isn't moving!" Silica whispers, "Is he stunned?" Asuna shakes her head in disagreement, "No, look at the monster." They notice that the monster had a green symbol next to its health bar. "If he's a salamander," Leafa concludes, "He won't take a lot of damage." The monster blew a large gust of wind at the player. He simply held his sword in front him, then slashed outward. Looking at his health bar, that attack didn't do anything. "Hey, that was like…" Liz said, then remembered back in SAO, when Kirito deflected the ice wyrm's breath attack the same way.

The player held his sword in front of him. Suddenly fire began to swirl at his feet, creating a circle around him. He suddenly jumped and flew through the air at incredible speed. Everyone watched in awe as he sped around in mid-air, slashing away at the Marlboro. It was way too slow to hit him. The constant hits forced it into a stun. The player flew up behind it and waved his sword like he was throwing it away. However, once the sword left his hand, it immediately disintegrated into ash. He held both his hands in front of him, facing the beast. A small flame ignited in his hands, then it suddenly grew large, bursting forward in an attack similar to a fire breath attack. It engulfed the Marlboro, leaving it with a sliver of HP left. He raised his hand up and begun to grip his hand as if he had a sword. As if on cue, the hilt materialized first in his hand, then the blade formed just in time to deliver the finishing blow to the beast. He performed a slash reaching from the top of the beast to the bottom, measuring it with a red line. Upon touching the ground, he jumped back and watched the beast explode in blue confetti. He smiled as the reward menu popped up. He swung his sword in front of him and then out again, like the first time. The sword disintegrated in the same way.

Everyone was in awe of what they just saw. "That guy…" Kirito whispered. He tried to reposition himself and end up falling, scaring a few birds. The stranger suddenly turned and threw another column of fire in their direction. "Watch out!" Leafa yelled. Everyone sprang in different directions. Silica happen to jump out in the open, only to barely see the stranger heading straight for her, weapon drawn. She braced for impact, but instead heard a loud clang. She opened her eyes to see a black sword holding back the silver sword. He jumped back in a battle-ready stance. "Two of ya, huh? Alright, I can do it." The stranger said. Sinon stepped out of the bushes and joined Kirito's side. "Three huh? A bit harder, but doable." He said. Leafa, Asuna, and Liz all stepped out with them. "Six? Really? Man my bounty must be high. No matter. I got this." He said finally. Before one of them could speak up and stop him, five spirits made of fire sprouted from him, all of them individually attacking a target. He himself went for Kirito, charging at him at full speed. He brought his sword down, but Kirito blocked it. Kirito was relying on his friends to support him, but the spirits were giving them trouble. One was toying with Liz, the other one was chasing Silica while she kept dodging, Leafa and Sinon already out of the fight oddly, and Asuna was keeping it a bay with water spells. The guy was fast, striking Kirito with blinding speed. He barely had enough time to block them. But he was thankful, because the stranger wasn't using his fire. Most likely because the spirits were draining his MP. Kirito couldn't attack, his speed and strength were incredible.

All of the sudden, he heard shouts around him. He knocked the stranger back for enough time to catch his surroundings. Silica and Pina have been restrained by the spirits. Liz soon followed suit. Asuna ran out of MP and his fending off her spirit, but she wouldn't last. Kirito needed to beat this guy now. "Almost all of your party is out for the count. Once I finish you, it'll be easy pickings." The stranger said threatingly. "Aw wait, but if I kill you that means my bounty will rise even higher. Damn!" He put his palm to his forehead and sighed. He suddenly lit up, "How about this," Kirito stared at him confused, "You guys let me go, and we'll pretend we never saw each other. Deal?" Kirito gritted his teeth, "After attacking me and my friends, you want us to let you go?" The stranger gave a nervous smile, "Yes?" Kirito rushed the stranger, but he summoned his sword to block his strike. "Fine, then. No deal." Said the stranger before knocking Kirito with a kick.

He then rushes Kirito with a flurry of attacks, unrelenting on any of them. Kirito isn't sure how long he would hold on. He managed to parry one of his strikes and retaliate, landing a few slashes. He jumped back to regain his stamina. Kirito then realized what happened. All around his body were slash marks and gashes, and his health was at half. A scream snapped him out of focus. He turned to the scream and saw Asuna being restrained by the spirit. "Asuna!" He tried to run to her side, but she resented. "Beat him to free us!" she yelled. The stranger smiled confidently. "You got this, Kirito!" The stranger's smile fade into realization. Kirito turned to the stranger and rushed without a second thought. As Kirito was approaching the stranger, he suddenly threw his weapon and held his hands in front of him then yelled, "Wait!"

Kirito for some reason listened. Instead of slashing, he flew over the stranger and landed on the grass behind him. "What now?" Kirito said through his teeth. The stranger suddenly bowed, "I'm so sorry!" Everyone was in shocked but confused. The stranger looked up and approached Kirito, "You-you're Kirito! The one who beat SAO and the original ALO, as well as being the only GGO player to win a BoB as a newbie! You're a gamer legend!" Kirito was confused at first, but was flattered from the sudden praise from the stranger. He nervously laughed as stranger named off his accomplishments. "So how did you manage to beat the best fighter in the game?" he asked. Kirito replied, "Well it was pretty difficult, see what I did was…"

All while Kirito and the stranger were becoming friends through battle tactics, nodding and agreeing with each other to various things, everyone else sat captured, watching the two become best friends. "Um, Asuna?" Liz said, "What just happened." Asuna gave a nervous laugh and said, "I have no idea." Liz became annoyed and yelled, "Kirito! Can you kill him so we can move?" Both the stranger and Kirito turned to Liz and laughed. "By the way," Kirito whispered, "How do you do that?" The stranger got up and held out his hand, "I'll teach you, and more. The name is Ferno by the way. Banished Salamander." Kirito took his hand to get up, "Banished?" Ferno nodded, "Yup, played a prank using my elements against the wrong person and now I have a bounty on my head. I just have to live for a set amount of time and the bounty is mine. Speaking of which…" He pulls up his menu and Kirito notices a timer about to expire. Once the number reached 0, he flashed gold. "Alright! Now that is a pretty penny." He turns back to Kirito, "How about I treat you guys to a meal as an apology for attacking you and causing trouble." Kirito nods in agreement. Ferno then turns to the rest and holds out his hand. The spirits let go of their victims and swirl back into his hand. He turns back to Kirito with a confidant smile on his face. "Ferno, you might want to run." Kirito warns. Ferno gives a confused look then turns to the group. Everyone glares at him with a deathly look. "Um, Kirito, I don't think they're staring at just me." Kirito turns to look at the girls. He was right. Both guys give each other nervous looks. "Just…follow me. I know a good place to eat in neutral territory." Kirito gives him a nervous smile, "Alright, lead the way." They quickly sprout their wings and take off. Everyone else sprouts their wings and gives chase, determined to make both of them pay.

 **AN: Hello everyone, this is my first story of SAO. Constructive criticism and reviews are expected. Also, please check out my other stories. Thank You for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

The café was empty, mostly because the town was in an obscure part of neutral territory. The spot was probably designed as a stop for long travels for players, or a quick save point for long hunts. Currently, it is being used as a place of fragile peace for Ferno & Kirito and the girls.

Kirito, Asuna, and Ferno sat on one side of the table, while Liz, Leafa, Silica, and Sinon sat on the opposite side. Yui sat on Asuna's head. Ferno sat on one opening, Kirito in the middle, and Asuna beside him. Leafa sat across from Ferno, Sinon and Silica in the middle due to them being the smallest, and Liz sat on the opposite end. Both Kirito and Ferno were looking down, with apologetic but satisfactory smiles on their faces. Asuna glared at Kirito and Leafa stared at Ferno. Everyone else was ordering drinks, not worrying about payment due to Ferno's recent bounty survival. Without looking up, Ferno ordered HP-regenerating drinks for Kirito and himself due to not getting the chance to heal after their battle. Being hunted and struck by the girls during the chase certainly didn't help. Liz and Asuna definitely took their type advantage to the maximum.

The girls still wanted to kill them, Ferno for threatening to kill them, then suddenly turning friendly, and Kirito for the same reason. Also for laughing at the sight of everyone upset over being restrained. Ferno tried looking up but was immediately shot back down by Leafa's gaze. "I said I was sorry." Ferno mumbled. "We forgive you, don't worry." Leafa replied. "Then why do I sense hostility at this table?" Kirito added. Leafa smiled devilishly, "Because some debts cannot be paid through money." Ferno and Kirito both sighed.

Leafa, along with everyone else, wanted to kill them. However, they know that attacking them in general is a bad idea. Kirito is a master swordsman only rivaled by Zekken. Ferno is good, but not as good as he is. However, Ferno is seemingly a master at his element. Despite having a number's advantage, they would surely be defeated. "So you're a Salamander?" Leafa asked. Ferno looked up and nodded. "I was drawn by the fact their main magic was fire magic, so I tried to be a mage. That failed because I couldn't memorize the words. So I decided to get good using a blade. I was inspired by Kirito and decided to practice using a one-handed longsword." Ferno explained. "And when the update came out, I was non-stop playing to try and master fire. Of course it took some time, but eventually I had it under my control. The things you can do with it are incredible." Leafa simply nodded, fully aware of what he was saying. Everyone else at the table was also listening. "Also, how did you do a sword summon?" Leafa continued. "Easy," he replied, "it's actually on your equipment options." He explained how to access it on the customization menu. "Every element has a basic summon. Mine is the basic fire summon. I personally think the Holy summon is pretty cool." Leafa was amazed on how much Ferno knew. "But the patch notes didn't say anything about that." Leafa said. Yui decided to add to the conversation, "Actually Leafa, there's a lot of stuff the patch notes didn't include. For instance, someone could-" Ferno interrupted her, "Actually, umm, can you not say what else is there. I kinda want to discover all that on my own." Leafa nodded in agreement. "Okay, sorry about that." Yui apologized. Ferno smiled, "its okay…I'm sorry do you have a name?" She sprang up with confidence, "My name is Yui, the navigation pixie."

Ferno had a realization. "I just realized, aside from Kirito, I don't know any of your names." Yui flew from Asuna's head and in front of Ferno. "Allow me to introduce them in that case." She flew to Leafa, "This is Leafa, strongest Sylph fighter in the game." Leafa laughed humbly. She floated next to Sinon, "And this is Sinon, an ace sniper and transfer from GGO. She and my papa won a Bullet of Bullets together." Ferno was taken back, "Papa? You don't mean?" She nodded and floated to Kirito's head. "Kirito is my papa, and Asuna is my mama." Ferno looked at Kirito and Asuna, who were both smiling nervously. "I didn't know you can have children in ALO." "No actually," Kirito shyly began. Yui finished his statement. "Actually, I am an advanced AI from SAO, and became Kirito and Asuna's child here in ALO in the form of a navigation pixie." Ferno was amazed. Sounds more complicated than having a child from the real world, he thought. "Anyway" Yui continued, as she floated to Silica, "this is Silica and her partner Pina." Pina gave a welcoming call. "Both of them are Cait Sith's by the way." Ferno nodded, "I could tell by the ears." She floated to Liz, who was eating a parfait, "And this is Lisbeth, master smith and of the Leprechaun race." She gave a small smile through a mouthful of ice cream. Finally, she hovered to Asuna, "And this is Asuna, a skilled mage and better rapier user. She's also known as a berserker healer and my mama. She proudly represents the Undine." She floated to the top of Kirito's head, "And you already know my papa, Kirito. Master swordsman and user of the dual-wield technique. He also is a Spriggan because they wear black." Ferno looked around, the introduced himself. "My name is Ferno, a Salamander. Good to meet you all." He gave a bright smile. The suspicions of Liz, Silica, Sinon, and Asuna faded, but Leafa still was intrigued by him. He was a lot stronger than he says he is. It's not particularly bad. She wanted to be as good as an element user as him.

"You know, Ferno," Leafa said, "We actually have a Salamander in our group. His name is Klein, and takes the role of Samurai. He's a great fighter, but since he's gonna be busy for a while, we are going to need a replacement. So in that case," Leafa leans forward, making everyone else at the table suspicious and uneasy, "Why don't you join us?"

A surprised silence falls over the table. Liz and Asuna get up and pull Leafa to the side. "Leafa, have you lost your marbles?" Liz says in a stern tone. "I agree with Liz, are you sure about this? Letting a complete stranger into our party? We barely know him, who knows what trouble he'll bring." Asuna adds. Leafa replies, "But think about it, our party has already made a name for itself, especially with being partied with Kirito and you, Asuna. Our completion of the Excalibur quest only put a bigger target on us. Think about how many times we've been attacked by random player groups, especially Salamanders and Sylphs." Liz and Asuna were quiet, mostly because she was right. She continued, "If we have him in our group, we can have some sort of immunity like if Klein was here. And since he uses Elements as well, he can help us fight against Sylphs that attack us." Liz and Asuna didn't want to admit it, but she was right. They glimpse back at the table and see Ferno talking with everyone else, everyone enjoying themselves.

Liz sighed, "Okay, I'll agree to give him a shot." Asuna nods, "I'm with Liz, but if he shows and sign of hostility, we're neutralizing him." Leafa nodded in agreement. She walked up to Ferno, who was sharing a story about an older party of his that had some bad luck with slimes. "So Ferno," Leafa stood next to him, "What do you say? Want to party up?" Ferno looked around and replied, "Yeah, I'll do it." Leafa sent him a party request…and a friend request? He accepted both, but kept quiet about the later. He would ask her about that later. Ferno paid the café bill and they went to go monster hunting.

Later…

"A werewolf, huh?" Kirito said as he checked the hunt brief. The group was traversing a cave where the hunt log said the werewolf was hiding. According to the NPC they accepted it from; it was killing his livestock, and would be grateful if they could take care of it. They walked down the dark cave, using Ferno's fire as a light source. Kirito didn't need it since being a Spriggan allowed him to see in the dark. Therefore, he stayed at the front of the pack, with Ferno behind him. "H-How much longer are we going to be walking?" Silica nervously asked. "No idea, but it's good that the cave is one way." Sinon replied. After walking a short distance, they heard a loud roar. It echoed through the cave. "What was that?" Silica said in a worried tone. "Probably the werewolf." Asuna confirmed. A sudden gust of wind blew through the tunnel putting out Ferno's flame. Suddenly, the ground beneath them crumbled and gave out. Everyone screamed as they fell into a pit of pitch black.

Silica rubbed her head as she got up. She noticed that only her health bar was displayed on her HUD. She immediately thought everyone had abandoned her, but she pushed that thought back. She called out into the abyss, but no one answered. She tried to activate her wings but they wouldn't form. She then remembered that caves automatically negate the use of flight. "Pina? Pina!" she called out to her partner. A sigh of relief flushed over her as she heard his call and flew to her side. She felt along the walls and realized she fell into a dead end. Her only choice was to walk further into the tunnels. "What are we going to do Pina?" she asked as she walked forward. She had no way to see in the dark. She was powerless here. As she walked, she suddenly had the feeling she was being watched. She heard slow steps in the darkness ahead of her. She hugged the wall next to her and crouched down, hoping that whatever was coming didn't see her. Her breathing was getting more rapid; she felt her heart rate increase. The shuffling got closer, with occasional rock kicking. Whatever it was, it must be tall to have that slow walking. She was praying that someone would come rescue her, anyone. Kirito, Asuna, Liz, Sinon, Leafa, or even Ferno. She didn't want to perish in this cave. The shuffling was extremely close, as it was right in front of her. She was hoping it would keep going, but it stopped. Whatever it was, it was right in front of her. It turned to her and she saw glowing red eyes, similar to a reptile. She was too terrified to reach for her knife. Pina couldn't see either, so she couldn't help. The glowing red eyes got closer to her, inching slowly. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the fate she was about to receive.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She slowly looked up at the red glowing eyes and tried not to scream. A blade to her left glowed as if it was about to strike. She began to cry, scared out of her mind. But instead of striking, it held the blade to her face. Staring her down, instead of it being a cave monster, was Ferno. His piercing red eyes melted instead to a warm gaze. His look of worry was apparent to her. "Silica, are you and Pina okay? I didn't mean to scare you." She began to cry tears of joy, because she wasn't alone. Ferno began to panic because he never knew what to do if a party member begins crying. He simply sat next to Silica and waited for her to let her tears out. Pina flew to Ferno's shoulder and waited as well.

After a few minutes, she began to calm down. Pina flew back to her head. "How did you find me?" Silica asked through sniffles. "Well, while I was traveling with this one group, there was a Spriggan. We were in a similar situation, just minus the pitfalls. He said he couldn't teach me night vision, but he did teach me echolocation. He taught it as insurance if my light were to fail in dark places like this. As a drawback, it makes my eyes glow." Ferno explained. "Well anyway, we should continue, we need to find everyone else." Silica nodded. That's when she realized that Ferno's health bar reappeared back on her HUD. "Hey, Ferno," she said. Ferno turned to her, "Can I hold onto you as we travel? I don't want us to get separated." Thankful that the darkness was hiding his embarrassment, he agreed. He held out his left arm and Silica latched onto it, careful not to let go. Ferno shuffled to produce sound, which allowed his echolocation to give him feedback. Occasionally, he threw rocks ahead of him to keep him informed of what's in front of him. He kept walking and eventually got back to the main vein of the tunnels. It was this even bigger tunnel that had a couple different openings to it. He threw rocks around and saw the tunnel he came out of, marked by a small stack of rocks. To his left was a dead end, and to his right that tunnel extended further. He decided to continue down the main tunnel, hoping he would run into more of his party. As he continued, he noticed that more tunnels sprouted open along the walls. These tunnels were probably diversions, meant to force people to get lost. If no one had any ability to see in the dark, they'd get lost. However, his ability allowed him to stay on the right track, staying on the main tunnel. He traveled with caution, slowly making his way through.

He still felt Silica wrapped around his arm. He heard her breathing, quick but paced. He could tell she was worried, but calm at the same time. He was glad he found her, and she could say the same. He wasn't one to leave party members behind. Jumping from party to party allowed him to see both sides of that spectrum. He met players that valued party members as human beings, and he met those that saw them as disposable. He vowed to not be like those people. He would sacrifice himself to save a member if he had to. Both he and Silica hoped to find everyone soon.

Ferno eventually ended up at a big dome. He threw out more rocks to get a general image of this room. He figured out they are in a circular room, with tunnel openings all around the room. One particular opening was odd. He noticed that it was larger than the rest. He deduced that it was either a way out or leading to the boss's room. He stepped in the room and instantly felt rejuvenated. He held up his right hand and summoned a small flame. "The tunnels," he said out loud, "were enchanted to prevent the use of magic." He turned around to face Silica, who was looking up at him. "I think we're safe." She sighed with relief. He pulled some burnable wood from his inventory and made a campfire, since using that much fire would leave his MP bar drained. He started the fire and sat down. He hoped that this place was the meeting center before the boss, so he figured that everyone else would have to come through here. Silica sat across from him. "You okay Silica? You still look shaken up. I'm sorry if I terrified you." She shook her head, "It's okay, it's just-" she took a deep breath, "I'm just glad you found me. I was so worried that I would die alone in this cave. It just flashed me back to SAO, when I almost died alone. Pina even sacrificed himself to save me." She stroked Pina's back. Ferno listened in shock. He couldn't believe that a girl her age almost met a terrible fate. "Of course, that's when Kirito saved me. He helped me in my time of need." He noticed she was smiling. Ferno never realized Kirito was a as big of a hero not just to the VRMMO society, but also to different individuals in their own way. Silica also caught herself smiling. She realized that Ferno was genuinely worried about her. She looked at him and saw Kirito. It was almost like he was a split-image of him. Those two shared the same values and morals. She couldn't believe it. Suddenly both of them realized they were staring at each other. They both quickly looked away, slightly blushing.

After sitting in the silent cracking of the fire, Ferno shot up and summoned his sword. "Ferno?" Silica called, worried. "Something is coming. Fast too." He said with worry. Whatever it was, it was coming fast. He summoned a fireball and threw it down the tunnel from which the footsteps are originating from. It traveled for a couple of seconds before exploding. He suddenly hears, "Hey you idiot, we're not hostile!" Confused, he lowers his sword. Running towards them was everyone else. Kirito with Yui on his head was being followed by Liz, Leafa, Sinon, and Asuna. Ferno put his weapon away, "You guys are okay!" Silica stood up and went to Ferno's side. Kirito stopped before them, "Glad to see you guys are okay also." Silica asked, "How did you all find each other?" Yui raised her hand, "I told Kirito where the nearest party member was. He did the walking while I did the tracking." Ferno laughed, "That's awfully convenient." "Also," Liz stepped up to Ferno and put a finger on his chest, "watch where you're throwing those things, it could've hit one of us!" Ferno apologetically smiled, "Yeah sorry, I thought you were a monster." She then stepped in front of Silica, "Are you okay Silica? He didn't do anything weird to you did he?" Silica laughed, "He didn't, he was actually the one that found me and led me here. He rescued me." Silica had a big smile on her face. Liz looked up and glared at Ferno. "I swear I didn't do anything!" Everyone laughed at his accusations. "Speaking of assumptions," Kirito said, turning towards the main tunnel, "think that's the boss room?" Ferno turned to the tunnel. "Only one way to find out." Together, everyone walked through the tunnel. Silica was relieved to see everyone's names on her HUD again.

Together, they walked down the tunnel once again. "We won't step on any more tunnel traps, right?" Asuna asked from behind. "I hope not." Kirito replied. They continued to walk until Kirito stopped the group. "We're here." Before them was a huge door, similar to the ones before floor bosses. Upon opeing, they are led to an open room with torches lined on the walls. The torches were so bright they lit up the room entirely. Of course in the middle of the room was the beast they were here for. The werewolf stood up and roared, attempting to intimidate the group. Once it quieted down, its health bars appeared, along with its element. "A wind? That would explain the gust that put out my flame." Ferno explained. Kirito drew his blade in front of him. Behind him, everyone had their weapons drawn. "Everyone ready?" Kirito yelled. Everyone nodded. Kirito ran forward, with Ferno, Liz, and Silica behind. Leafa, Asuna, and Sinon stayed a distance.

Kirito parried its claw attack, then switched with Ferno, who performed a flame slash. Quickly, it retaliated as an attempt to catch the fairy off guard. Ferno was fast enough to parry the attack, allowing an opening to allow Silica to attack. In its focus on Silica, Liz rained from above, striking it in the head. Asuna healed occasionally while Leafa granted buffs to her friends. Ferno took a look at the monster's health bar and noticed they only got down one out of four. Ferno growled out of frustration. Everyone backed off momentarily. The werewolf roared at the group. "We barely took a bar from that thing!" Kirito yelled. Ferno started to walk forward towards the beast. As he walked, fire began to swirl at his feet. The wolf suddenly inhaled, then blew a strong gust across the cave. Everyone feared that Ferno was extinguished. Once they opened their eyes, they saw he was still walking. Suddenly, the flames at his feet became more and more intense. He began running at the beast. The wolf slashed its claw at Ferno, who vanished instantly. The beast was as confused as everyone else. He reappeared on its back, slashing away. A blur then wrapped around the beast, leaving slash marks across it. The beast flailed around itself, trying to hit him. Everyone saw its health bar and were amazed by how much health it was losing. After that short damage phase, Ferno jumped above his target. He lost his sword and held his hands in front of him. A column of fire burst forth, engulfing the wolf in a large pillar of fire. The beast roared as it was ignited. Once the column disappeared, the beast fell to the ground. It had half of its last health bar left. Silica sprinted forward, with everyone following suit. Ferno landed then began attacking with them. The beast was stunned, so everyone took the opportunity to rack up the DPS. Finally, after so long, the beast exploded in blue triangles. The reward screen popped up as Ferno yelled, "We did it!"

Suddenly, Ferno fell collapsed to the ground. "Ferno!" Silica ran to his aid. Everyone followed her. She then realized he was okay, just panting heavily. She noticed his health bar was in the red, almost empty. She took out a healing potion and sat him up. He took it and drank it, glowing in a green and blue glow. The potion shattered once he finished it. "Man, that attack was a doozy." He jokingly said. "How are you so low on health, I never saw that beast hit you." Asuna asked. "It's simple," he replied, "that final attack required so much more than MP. Strong attacks like those usually take from your health bar once your MP is depleted." Everyone was amazed. Leafa especially, since she got to see the true destructive power of elements.

Ferno added everyone to his friends list once they got back in town. "Ferno, do you have a player home?" Kirito asked. "Yeah, back in Aincrad on the 10th floor, near a meadow biome." They all flew to Aincrad together, talking along the way. Once the landed on the 10th floor, they said their goodbyes. As Ferno was about to turn into his home, someone called him. "Um, Ferno?" He turned back around and saw Silica standing there. "Silica? What's wrong?" She looked up at him, "I just – wanted to thank you. You know, for finding me in that cave. I was really worried that no one would find me." Ferno smiled then walked up to her. He gave her a thumbs up and a smile, "I would never leave a party member behind." She smiled at his reply. She turned serious again, "So that's why I wanted to give you this." She brought down her menu and pushed some buttons. He then received a gift on his menu, "What is this?" She shyly looked away, "It's the reward for killing the Windwolf. I don't use swords, since they're too heavy. I wanted to give it to you, since you would probably get the most benefit out of it." Ferno smiled, "Thanks Silica, I appreciate it." She smiled then turned to fly off. She gave a final wave and sped to catch up with the rest of her group. She caught up with Liz mid-flight, "Silica? What took you so long?" She nervously smiles, "Oh, it was nothing, really." Liz gives her an unconvinced glare. Seriously, she thought, what's so great about him?

Ferno looked at his item that he was gifted. It was a similar longsword, a lengthy blade with a sturdy hilt. However, the metal itself was red. It resembled the color of blood. Its hilt was black, with two points protruding from where the blade meets the hilt. In the center of those two points was a green jewel. "Stillwind huh?" Ferno says to himself. He read the bonuses, which stated it did extra damage to wind enemies. He smiled, "Thanks, Silica."


	3. Chapter 3

Lisbeth spawned inside her blacksmith shop, as her usual routine. She looked around her bedroom on top of her shop, which was covered with pictures and memorabilia of SAO and ALO. She stretched her virtual body around as she made her way down to the forgery. She looked at her current projects and wondered if she should finish them. She decided she wasn't going to work on them today. She stepped behind her store counter and pulled her friends list. She was disappointed to see that her main group wasn't online. She leaned over her counter and sighed, "I wish I can do something today."

As if on cue, she received a message. It was from Ferno, the new addition to their group. She resented answering the message, but replied anyway due to her boredom. His message read, "Hey Lisbeth, I have a quest in progress and I need a partner. Wanna come with?" She took a second to think about it, then agreed. He replies that he will meet her at her shop. She takes her mace and shield to the forgery to repair her equipment. She thinks about what type of quest it could be, especially one that only takes two of them. She doesn't remember the last quest that had such a small party. Actually, she does remember. It was back in SAO, when she went on the supply run with Kirito. And she remembers how well that went. All kinds of thoughts surged through her head as the possibility of the quest topic.

She suddenly heard a chime from her store. She rested her equipment and returned to the store. As soon as she walked through the door, she sees a guy eyeing the weapons in the cases and on the walls. His dark brown hair contrasted with his crimson eyes. His black jacket hid his black chest armor and red shirt. His black boots and joggers matched his jacket, and the accent on his boots were the same shade of red. When she closed the door, he turned to her. "Oh don't mind me. Just having a look. Quite fine weaponry you have here." She gave a confident smirk, "Well of course, since I made them." Ferno gave a slight chuckle. He stood up straight, "Ready to head out?" Liz nods. Ferno steps out to wait for her. She locks up and faces him, "So where are we heading?" Ferno smiles devilishly, "To the heavens!"

Later...

Ferno and Lisbeth were flying over a forest, speeding past forestry and eventually arriving at a large lake. They both touch down and Lisbeth stomps in front of him, "So now do you want to explain this quest?" He points to a cluster of rubble in the middle of the lake, "That platform is the start of the quest. I'm sure that the quest briefing will describe more." Lisbeth gives an unconfident look, but rolls with it. They take a short flight to the marble platform in the lake and notice a small angel-like creature. He stood at the center of the platform. He was about a few feet tall and wore a white toga with a green rope around his waist. Ferno approached him and he began talking, "Kind Fairies! My home has been taken over by an evil water goddess! I ask for your help ridding of her, and I assure you your help will not be undermined!" A prompt then appeared in front of them. Ferno touched the blue circle, accepting the quest. The small Angel smiled, then both Ferno and Lisbeth started to glow.

As soon as the light faded, they stood in front of a white marble castle. It would've been beautiful if the castle didn't have patches of dirt covering it and water streams leaking from windows. Lisbeth looked around the castle and noticed Ferno was studying the castle. He was staring intensely at a few spots on the castle. If she was to guess, he was focused on the water streams pouring from the windows. It would be predictable, since Ferno's type is weak to water. She looks at him, "You ready for this?" Ferno turned to her, as if snapping out of a trance. He smiles and nods. Lisbeth pulls her menu down and summons her mace and shield. Ferno simply held his hand out in front of him and closed it like he was gripping a hilt. As she's seen before, the hilt materializes in his hand. The blade quickly forms out of the green jem at the end of it. The red blade glimmered in the sunlight. She noticed that this sword is different than the one he's used before. "Hey, didn't you use a different sword before?" He looks at her then the sword. "Yeah, I got this from a friend. Some time ago." Lisbeth continues to eye the weapon, "Quite the weapon. You should let me take a look at that later." Ferno nods.

Together they run through the open gate and approach the blasted-open castle doors. Throughout the beginning hallway there were giant rocks littered around the floor. Earthen gnomes jumped out from behind the boulders with small axes and hammers. Their glowing red eyes and sharp-toothed smiles stared with unmatched bloodthirst. Lisbeth's mace glowed gold and she thrusted forward hitting a gnome in the face. She then spun, hitting multiple gnomes and disintegrating them into blue shards. "Yeah! Easy!" She yelled. More gnomes rushed from the hallways and corridors, and soon she realized she was surrounded by more gnomes. Suddenly Ferno landed in front of her slamming his fiery fist on the floor. The gnomes around them erupted in columns of fire. When he stood up, the fire disappeared and the gnomes that weren't incinerated were scrambling due to the cinders landing on them. "Let's move!" Ferno called. Lisbeth nodded as she followed Ferno as he ran up the stairs. Ferno assumed that their leader was on the top of the castle, perhaps in the throne room. To avoid being swarmed, they kept moving as fast as they can while slashing or whacking any gnomes that got too close. If they choose to try to group up in front of them, Ferno would simply blast them away with his fire or Liz would slam her mace in the middle, creating a holy shockwave through the group.

They climbed and climbed until they arrived at the throne room. The room wasn't really much of a room, but a patio. The throne sat on the end of the platform, with no walls around. Only small marble fences surrounded the platform. Large columns patterned in the fence, and they connected to nothing since the roof was open, exposing the throne room to the warmth of the evening sun. On the throne sat a woman draped in a blue and white elegant robe. Her hair was the color of the lake where they started. Only difference was that at the ends of her hair water dripped and vanished. She sat on the throne cross-legged, resting her head on her fist with her eyes closed. Her other hand tapped the armrest opposite to where her head rested. Once we got closer, she opened her eyes opened up and both Ferno and Lisbeth noticed her eyes were a strong blue. "She'd be beautiful if she didn't stare so coldly at us." Ferno whispered.

"So, it is you who dares assault my castle." Ferno gritted his teeth. He knew this was gonna be fighting an uphill battle. He knew he had the elemental disadvantage. "And for mindlessly slaughtering my children, you will pay your time." She held out her hand and summoned a blue lance. She pointed up and gnomes started to fall from the sky, simply from out of thin air. "Hmph, if it's just your underlings we're fighting, it seems like a waste of time." Ferno said confidently. The water woman simply smiled and slammed the end of her lance in the ground. Suddenly the gnomes became bubbled from water. The water bubbles popped and Lisbeth noticed that they were no longer a dirt brown, but a water blue now. She looked at Ferno whose eyes were lit with worry, despite his determined look. She knew she had to fight harder to compensate for Ferno's type disadvantages. She leaped into the air to slam the crowd with a holy blast. But as she flew, her eyesight suddenly was tinted blue. She felt like she lost her ability to breathe. She realized she had a water bubble around her head. She landed writhing, struggling to inhale air. She then realized she can breathe, but whatever substance was around her was putting her to sleep, perhaps to simulate drowning. She tried to look at Ferno, but only to see him swinging his blade and missing every swipe. He was constantly doused with water, which apparently prevented him from igniting his fire. The last thing she saw before slipping to unconsciousness was Ferno being swarmed by gnomes.

Lisbeth woke up coughing up water. She opened her eyes to see Ferno's crimson eyes staring down at her in distress. The darkness of the room they were in highlighted his gaze even more, similar to how a fireplace sets the tone of a cabin. After what seemed like eternity staring at each other, Ferno says, "Are you okay?" The question snaps her out of her hypnotism and she begins to blush. Ferno jumps back as Lisbeth jerks up, still coughing. "Yeah, I'm fine," she says through a waterlogged voice, "where are we?" Ferno sits leaning against the wall and looks around, "A jail cell it seems. They suppressed my fire abilities and threw me in here." He looked down at his hand. "I was powerless. I couldn't fight. Even now they don't care enough to block my fire-using abilities, since they know I can't hurt them with it." He summons a small flame but shortly kills it. "Anyway, as soon as they threw me in here, they tossed you in here as well. I saw that your head was drenched and you weren't moving. I then realized that your health bar was going down. So that gave me the conclusion that you got a drowning affliction. And so naturally, I um...assisted you." He began to turn red and looks away. At first Lisbeth was confused as why he didn't continue. Soon, she realized why he didn't need to say anything. "Thanks, at least. I don't know if I would've woken up if you didn't help." Lisbeth said. She then realized she's still sitting in the middle of the room.

She gets up and sits herself in front of him, just to burn the sight of flustered Ferno in her head. She gets the gist that Ferno is a cool and collected person. Since she gets a kick out of taunting Kirito, Ferno just becomes another victim. Seeing him embarrassed is amusing to her. Ferno then looks at her, still slightly red. She smiles devilishly, "So, can I ask what did you do to help?" Ferno looks away again, "You know, what to do when someone almost drowns." Lisbeth keeps her gaze on him, "Actually, I don't quite know what you're getting at." Ferno swallows and quietly says, "CPR." Mentally, she wanted to hide her face. She was incredibly embarrassed that Ferno did something. But she knew he was just as embarrassed about it as her, "Oh Ferno! I didn't know you can be so bold. You should at least take me out to dinner first." Ferno turned as red as his flames, "It was only to get you of the status affliction!" Lisbeth leans back, "And you know, that affliction fades with time. So I would've been fine without your emergency plan." Ferno stared at her, "So that means…?" Lisbeth simply nodded and put a finger to her lips. Ferno's face was a mixture of a flush and blush. Lisbeth simply laughed at his reaction.

Ferno shook his head and rubbed his face, "A-Anyway, we have to figure out how to get out of here." Lisbeth stops laughing and nods, "I agree, but how do we get out of here?" Ferno thinks for a bit, then says, "You're a Leprechaun right? Why can't you use Earth?" Lisbeth simply shrugs, "I've always used Holy-based sword skills, so I haven't really had a problem with not using Earth." Ferno sighs, "Well now we need to tap into your Earthen roots." Lisbeth looks at Ferno in confusion.

He gets up and sits on his knees in the middle of the room. He looks at Lisbeth and gestures for her to sit in front of him. She obliges and kneels in front of him. "Okay, this may be a bit weird but bear with me." Ferno says. Lisbeth looks at him with humor, "Oh, still keeping your game up?" He turns red again and holds out both of his hands, "Give me your hands." She resentfully joins hands with him. He exhales and closes his eyes. Lisbeth does the same. She begins to notice that his hands begin to feel warm. They get warmer and warmer. She opens her eyes and notices a small fire circle forming around them. She begins to feel nervous but doesn't let go. The air around her begins to grow hot. Slowly and slowly the circle around them grows bigger and more intense. Outside the cell she can hear the gnomes speaking and yelling, banging on the cell bars. She notices one of them open the door and step in but is blown back by some force. She looks back at Ferno and sees the focus he's giving off. She closes her eyes again and a sudden rush of emotions fill her. Care, fury, compassion, passion, warmth, intensity. She wonders if this is from the fire. She notices that Ferno's hands are hot, very hot. But she can't compel herself to let go. She opens her eyes once again and sees that they are now enveloped in a twister of fire reaching to the roof. Gnome chatter can be heard outside but she can't see them due to the intensity of the flames. The air swirls around them like a strong gust. She stares at Ferno who's clothes and hair were being whipped around by the twister. She should be afraid that he wields so much power, despite it being virtual. From what she heard from Leafa, managing this power requires copious amounts of discipline and will. The fact that these flames are so powerful shows what a person Ferno is. Suddenly, Ferno opens his eyes and stares into Lisbeth's. She notices this is a different intensity than what she saw earlier. This is no longer a fire in a fireplace, but a massive blaze destroying a forest. His eyes glowed a sharp red. She keeps staring into them. She suddenly feels a rush of power, almost like something has ignited inside her. The fire fades from an intense red to a light brown. It no longer looks like they're in a fire funnel. Instead, it looks like they've been trapped in a sand twister. The warmth in Ferno's hands are no longer painful. She feels the surge of power coursing through her body. She smiles as she looks at Ferno.

The gnomes outside the cell scramble to try to put out the fire, but freeze in confusion once the fire faded brown. Some gnomes bringing buckets see their brethren looking inside the cell. Suddenly an explosion of dirt fills the hallway and disintegrates the gnomes that were caught in the blast. The gnomes not caught run away in fear. Lisbeth steps out of the cell. Her eyes glow a soft brown. Ferno gets up but feels exhausted. He could never be not tired from those rituals, even if he does them for a million years. He struggles to stand up but Lisbeth holds out her hand and helps him up. She holds out a potion, "Here, drink this. We have a water goddess to defeat." Ferno smirks and drinks the health potion, feeling revitalized. "Alright, let's do this."

The goddess sits at her throne, pondering at what to do with the intruders. A distant rumble grabs her attention. She supposes it's nothing and shuts her eyes. A few minutes later an explosion shakes her throne room. When she opens her eyes, she sees Lisbeth standing before her with Ferno next to her. " I see, so you fairies managed to escape. No matter. I will finish you myself." Once again, she summons her lance and instead of summoning minions, she prepares herself for battle. She stands up from her throne as Ferno and Lisbeth ready their weapons. The goddess was not much taller than them, so physically they stand a fighting chance. Ferno watches as her health bars fill up. 4 green rectangles floated above her head. He exhales and prepares himself for battle.

Ferno runs forward towards the enemy. The goddess lunges forward, but Ferno parries it perfectly. He jumps out of the way as Lisbeth swoops in for the attack. Instead of doing a Holy-based attack, she jumps up and slams her mace on the ground. In an instant, two blocks of the flooring rise up and crush the goddess between them. The goddess breaks free, but Ferno notices is does a large chunk of damage. The goddess spins her lance over her head and swings it in front of her, summoning a large wave of water. Ferno tries to summon his wings, but they wouldn't materialize. Figures it would be a no fly zone. He braces himself for the water. Lisbeth suddenly jumps in front of him and holds her shield up. The small iron guard suddenly explodes into a shield made of ground and she uses it as a dome, protecting both of them from the attack. Once the water stops, the earth shield retracts and reforms into her typical iron guard. Ferno notices that her eyes are still glowing brown. He also notes that her MP bar is full and pulsating. He assumes this must be some sort of overdrive mode that comes with awakening. It's how long it last is what he worries about. The goddess recoils, stunned, "How-how did you survive?" Ferno runs at her once again. The goddess slashes but Ferno parries. He switches with Lisbeth and she performs a devastating combo. Ferno watches as Lisbeth slams, swings, crushes, and bashes the goddess with unrelentless power. She slams the goddess with her shield and she flies towards Ferno. Ferno readies a fire blast as Lisbeth raises another marble block. He blasts the goddess with so much power she flies forward, slamming into the marble column. The rock cracks under the heat's impact.

Lisbeth jumps next to Ferno. The goddess gets up using the staff as her support. Lisbeth looks at Ferno, "Ready for this?" Ferno nods, "You bet I am." At the same time, Ferno and Lisbeth charge the wounded goddess. Ferno slashes her with a fire-covered blade while Lisbeth encases her mace in solid rock to slam the goddess with. The force of the attack blows the goddess back into the throne. The goddess remains motionless. Lisbeth raised her fist, "We did it!" Ferno holds his hand out and Lisbeth high-fives him. Lisbeth suddenly falls forward, Ferno barely catching her, "Hey! You alright?" Lisbeth holds his shoulders and attempts to balance herself. She looks at him, "Yeah, just really tired all of the sudden. Guess that battle took everything from me." Ferno noticed her eyes were no longer glowing brown. Ferno helps her sit down on the marble flooring and he takes a seat next to her. "Now you know how I felt after the boss of our last quest." He laughs as he hands her a health potion and they relax, after a long quest.

The moon turns over the horizon and the sun begins to rise. Neither Ferno or Lisbeth realized how high up they are. They could see a large portion of the forest from one side of the platform while on the other side is the lake, which is where the sun rises from. "Wait," Lisbeth starts, "Why haven't we gotten a mission complete screen yet?" "That's because it's not over." The goddess says in her weary state. Both Ferno and Lisbeth turn to see the goddess raise her hand and a sudden rush of water sweeps them away, both caught off guard. Them along with the goddess are forced off the platform and sent on a freefall to the lake below them.

Naturally, both Ferno and Lisbeth begin panicking. Both try to activate their wings but neither want to appear. In the midst of flails, Ferno grabs Lisbeth and points towards the sunrise. The sun has touched the water from their angle and is now reflecting off the water's surface. Lisbeth admires the beauty that this quest's ending has showed them. This scene reminds her of her quest with Kirito, back in SAO. There, they had a similar experience. Total freefall, admiring the landscapes of the game. She smiles at the memory of her experience and feelings then and now. However that moment of calmness is disrupted by the realization they are going to hit the water at an incredible speed, probably enough to kill them. Together, they brace for impact.

Suddenly it feels like the wind reverses its direction. A strong gust slows them down and another begins to slowly float them to the platform in the middle of the lake. The water goddess, who was falling with them, fell into the water and disappeared. They touched down on the platform softly and are met with the same angel from the beginning of the quest, "Thank you Fairies, you have saved my kingdom from the water goddess. She always attempts to take my throne. But with your help she is foiled once again." Lisbeth stutters in confusion, "You're kingdom? What do you mean?" Without saying a word, the Angel glows and begins to grow. Instead of being two feet tall, it is now a seven foot tall woman with green hair and eyes. She smiles kindly at us and disappears in an angelic light. Ferno looks up and notices that the castle that was once there has been replaced by clouds.

Both Lisbeth and Ferno return to Lisbeth's shop. Upon landing, Lisbeth turns around, "You know Ferno, I thought I was going to have a boring evening, but that quest was a lot of fun." Ferno smiled, "That's great. I had a lot of fun too. Maybe we should party up for more quests, Lisbeth." Lisbeth nodded, "Anytime, oh and just call me Liz." Ferno gives her a thumbs up. Before she could return to her shop, Ferno stopped her. "Hey Liz, think you make a custom order for me?" She turns around and nods. She quickly enters and unequips her armor and weapons. "Welcome to Lizbeth's Blacksmith!" she greets. Ferno laughs and approaches the counter. "I'd like some armor made from this material, please." He pulls down the menu and displays the item to her. "Aquatic Alloy? That's a water-based material, are you sure?" Ferno nods. "I was wondering if you can make a chestplate with water resistance." Lisbeth stares at the item, then nods. "I think I can do it, but it will cost you, and take some time." Ferno scoffs, "Easy enough. How much do I owe you?" Lisbeth looks at him slyly, "Oh it's not a monetary value. I have a quest that gives some rare material as a reward. Accompany me tomorrow, and that will be payment enough." Ferno smirks, "Sounds like a plan." Lisbeth smiles, "I'll let you know once the armor is finished." Ferno nods and walks off, "Seeya Liz!" She watches him fly off, then turns to go back into the forgery. She uses the material to begin crafting armor. Now this, she thinks, is a project I don't want to procrastinate. She smiles at the thought of the nostalgia today has brought her. "Yeah," she says to herself, "Maybe he isn't so bad after all."

 **AN: Sorry for the long wait! College started and I've been ridiculously busy, but thanks for sticking around! Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

Sinon sat on a bench in an obscure town near Salamander territory. She reviewed the mission statement once again. According to the log, there has been disturbances in the desert near her location. Earthquakes, according to the mission description. She sighed as another player sat right next to her. She closed her eyes in irritation as the player ate a random pastry next her. "Remind me again," she started, "why are you accompanying me?"

Ferno threw the last piece of the pastry in his mouth, "Well, you wanted to do this mission without being attacked on sight don't you? It's either I do this mission with you or not at all." He swallows the last bite, then holds one to Sinon, "Here I got you one." She looks at the pastry, which was basically a small cake with white frosting and sprinkles on top. Ferno nudged it a bit closer to Sinon, "It's amazing, and grants a strength and health buff when eaten too." Sinon slowly took the cake. "Thank you, you didn't have to but I appreciate it." Ferno smiled, "Whatever helps with staying alive."

After that, he simply turned forward and began adjusting his equipment and checking his items. Sinon held up the small cake and took a bite. 'It is good. Very sweet.' she thought as she munched on the cake. As she ate the cake, she looked around the small town. In it were players of different races, but ultimately all joined by a Salamander. Typically, she saw Salamanders as power-driven, war-mongering fairies that had no sense of sympathy. But as she looked around she began to believe that not all of them were like that. The Salamanders around her were all friendly interacting with different races. In fact, the Salamander next to her was quite literally playing with fire. Ferno snapped to summon a flame on his thumb. He then drew a large breath and blew at the flame gently, turning it into a small flamethrower. He then extinguished the flame and smiled to himself, apparently finding that amusing enough to do it again. She smiled as she ate the last piece of the cake. If every other Salamander was as goofy as him, they wouldn't be taken seriously.

Sinon stood up and turned to Ferno, "Ready to take off?" He extinguished his finger flame and nodded. Together, they walked out of the town's borders and flew off into the desert. They flew for a while until they stopped at a isolated cave, which was the start location for the quest. The cave's mouth reminded Sinon of the cave that her and Kirito hid in to avoid Death Gun back in the BoB tournament. Sinon took a shaky breath and started walking forward. Ferno walked closely behind her, illuminating the cave the deeper they got with a flame in his hand. "What is this place?" Ferno asked. Sinon used his light to look at the walls. There were pictures and sequences drawn along the walls with ancient writing scattered throughout the drawings. "Looks old." Ferno commented. "Very old." Sinon added. Suddenly the cave began to shake, but stopped as soon as it started. "I swear, if there's another sudden pit in this cave I'm done with this game." Ferno said. They both continued to walk forward, eyeing the artwork on the walls. Sinon was still admiring the art when Ferno suddenly pulled her to him. "Hey! What gives?" Ferno simply pointed in front of her. Had he not pulled her, she would have slipped and fell down a rocky slope, most likely damaging her quite a bit. "What do you think is down there?" Ferno asked. Sinon smiled, "Only one way to find out." With that, she jumped and slid down the slope. "Hey, wait up!" Ferno called out before jumping after her.

They ended up in a room with an old-looking door on the other end. Ferno stepped up to the door first, and it slowly opened, grinding against the floor. Behind the door, was a hallway with torches lining the walls. The torches only did so much, and the hallway was still dim despite the torches. Sinon and Ferno slowly walked through the hallway. Suddenly, they were cut off from both sides. Two skeleton warriors faded into existence from both sides, weapons drawn. Sinon and Ferno backed into each other. Sinon quickly equipped her bow while Ferno clenched his right hand to materialize his sword. Ferno gritted his teeth, "Think you can take those two on your own?" Sinon scoffed, "I should be worried about you." Ferno turned his head, "No, it's because -" but before he could finish Sinon fired an arrow at one of the warriors. The arrow of light simply shattered upon contact with the Skeleton. "Wha-" she said before firing another arrow with the same result. The skeletons did a boney laugh. "I knew it." Ferno said. Sinon turned her head to him, "Knew what?" Ferno pointed to their armor. "That is a light-warding skeleton. Highly resistant to Holy attacks and magic." The skeletons slowly stepped forward. Sinon pulled a knife from her belt since her bow was useless. She felt Ferno grow more hot on her back. "I'll finish these guys fast, just stay alive till then." Sinon swallowed and replied with a shaky, "Alright."

Sinon rushed the skeletons, using her speed to the fullest. While she wasn't as fast as Ferno, Leafa, or Kirito, she was fast enough to help her live. She stabbed the skeleton on the right and jumped back as the skeleton on the left brought down its sword. She tried chopping it's arm off but the knife simply got stuck in the bone. Sinon let go as the skeleton lifted his arm and swung. It stood up straight and pulled the knife from its arm, tossing the small blade behind them. Sinon swallowed. She turned around to glance at Ferno, who appeared to be struggling against the two skeletal warriors. The skeleton on the right rushed her with a flurry of attacks. She narrowly dodged every single one. The other skeleton slashed downward as Sinon dodged the final slash. Sinon stopped herself just in time, almost taking a direct hit. However, she was right in the way for a shield bash. The same skeleton rammed Sinon with its shield, sending her reeling back on the floor. The right skeleton took this opportunity to rush her again. Sinon dodged most of the attacks, with some managing to connect. She yelped everytime the sword slashed her body, leaving behind a blood red grid. Sinon finally was able to roll back on her feet. As soon as she looked up she saw the left skeleton bringing down its sword again. She tried side stepping but the blade still slashed her arm. Her health was in the yellow. She would turn around to check on Ferno but the skeletons continued to attack. Her dodges were getting slower or their attacks were getting faster. Either way, more and more slashes started to connect. The attacks chipped her health lower and lower until she was in the red. Another close slash forced her to lose balance and fall back. One of the skeletons brought its sword down. She couldn't dodge this one. This one would be the finishing blow. She closed her eyes and waited for the hit to arrive.

Instead, there was a loud metallic bang. She opened her eyes to see Ferno standing above her holding off the attack from the Skeleton. He forced his palm forward which sent the skeleton flying back with a burst of heat. Sinon noticed that Ferno's body was covered with small cuts of red grids. She saw his health was in the yellow, yet he appears more battle-beaten than her. Sinon wondered what his stats were, for him to look more beat up than her yet still have more health left. Ferno still didn't turn around when he blew back the warrior. The slashing warrior charged him, but Ferno dodged every attack with ease. When it was the end of the skeletons combo, Ferno slashed off the skeleton's sword arm. The boney hand fell to the floor and dissolved in blue shards. Before it could mourn the loss of it's hand, Ferno impaled the skeleton. He twisted the blade then withdrew it. He then slashed the head off the skeleton. The body and head both simultaneously fell to the ground, exploding in shards of blue. The other skeleton watched as his partner disintegrated. It let out an angry war cry and rushed Ferno. Ferno ran at the skeleton with blinding speed. The skeleton predicted he would run around him, so it held out it's sword to its side so that Ferno would run into it. Instead, Ferno slid under it, slashing the skeleton on the side of the torso. The skeleton wailed but Ferno was not done. Once he got past the skeleton, he got up and quickly slashed the skeleton on the back on what looked like an cross. Sinon got a look at Ferno while this went on. His black hair was short on the sides and back, but on top was long enough to form bangs on his forehead, but since he was looking downward, his hair partly covered his eyes. His red eyes pierced the black veil. The skeleton didn't care for that however. It tried to do a turning slash, trying to catch Ferno by surprise. It failed. Ferno ducked under it and swept the skeletons feet, making it fall back. Ferno got up and impaled the skeleton, finishing it off by pulling his blade and slashing off it's head. The skeleton shattered with a cry.

Sinon couldn't believe her eyes. He made those enemies look like child's play, while she was left helpless. She wondered how strong he truly was. If he had fought Kirito on their first encounter, would he have won? She was also taken aback by the way he eliminated those mobs. Most players would simply slash at them until they died. But Ferno did it so savagely, almost inhumanely. She almost felt bad for them, besides the fact they were just ones and zeros and were hostile.

All those thoughts occured in a few seconds. Because the stone blockades moved away, allowing them to continue forward. Sinon realized Ferno was still standing there, sword out. She watched him flick his hand away, as if tossing his sword aside. However, it disintegrated as soon as it left his hand. He took a deep breath and pushed his hair away from his forehead, swiping it back to the left side of his head. He exhaled and began, "Man, those guys really were tough huh?" Sinon was more surprised about this than anything. Ferno smiled and summoned some health recover potions. He sat against the wall in front of Sinon, who was still sitting in the middle of the hallway. He held out one potion, "Here, you took more of beating than me." She took it, but still hasn't said anything. After a short silence, Sinon finally spoke up, "So, mind telling me what all that was?" Ferno gave a confused look. Sinon clarified, "That fighting, it was a bit intense, wasn't it?" Ferno nodded his head, "Oh yeah, sorry about that. When fights get really intense, I sorta get into it." Ferno gave a nervous laugh, which didn't sit well with Sinon. She tried imagining Ferno fighting Kirito or Leafa when he goes full serious. She doesn't know who will win in that matchup. She decided just not to think about it.

Upon exiting the hallway, they are met with a large open room with four pillars in a square formation. The roof in the center was cracked open, letting sunlight pour in. "This totally doesn't look like a boss room." Ferno said sarcastically, "We're just missing the health and ammo packs." Sinon smiled at his joke. Ferno wandered into the middle. As soon as he stepped into the center, the ground began to violently shake. "Oh, damn!" cried Ferno as he scrambled to retreat from the center. The sand in the middle began to kick, erupting violently. From the sand erupted a large snake, about 8 feet high and very long. It had its two black beady eyes and a human eye in the middle. Ferno began to mumble, "Ah son of a- " but was quickly cut off when the snake whipped its tail, sending sand in their direction. Both Ferno and Sinon simultaneously leaped. Sinon began shooting arrows at the snake while Ferno flew back to the wall mid-air and rocketed off the surface, flying towards the snake.

As he closed the distance, he summoned his sword and was ready to stab it. The snake simply dodged the Ferno rocket, and he slammed into the wall. It then turned its attention to Sinon, who was still firing arrows at it. She was ready to avoid another sand attack, but instead it did something different. It opened its eye and began making a noise. Ferno got up dazed, and saw what was going on. He yelled at Sinon, "Don't look at the eye!" But it was too late. Sinon's eyesight went white.

She felt herself conscious, but she couldn't hear the battle anymore. She couldn't move either. Suddenly she heard a voice. A deep, soft voice spoke to her, "Why are you the way that you are? Why do you act the way that you act?" What do you mean? She thought. "Why do you act this way? Hurting the people close to you?" She thought of her history with Kirito, and the pain she caused him by involving him in her fears. She even thought of recently, with Ferno taking on all of the dead warriors solo with her not supporting him, despite that being her job as an archer. Is that what this voice is talking about? "Change your ways." I can't, she thought. "Change your ways." Why? From what? "Change your ways." I have no idea what you mean! "Change your ways." Stop! Sinon tried to wake up but couldn't. She had no idea what she was experiencing. She assumed it must be the boss's special attack, but she couldn't believe this game would psychologically attack the player. She tried moving, but she couldn't feel it. All she could hear was the words "Change your ways." She focused all her willpower to silence the voice. Suddenly it began to quiet down, and the white began to fade.

Sinon came to in a dimly lit place. The echoes of the voice resonated in her head. She looked around realized she was in the hallway where they fought the warriors. Ferno was on his knees beside her, frantically scrolling through his menus. "Ferno?" He stopped scrolling and look past the window, "Oh thank goodness, you're okay." He flicked the window away and fell back into a sitting position. Sinon sat up slowly and held her head. "What happened?" Ferno took a second, "Well…"

 _Flashback_

"Don't look at the eye!" Ferno called. But he saw Sinon's usually emerald eyes turn white. He saw on her health bar two debuffs. One was a paralysis debuff and the other is one he hasn't seen before. It was simply a white box with a black eye in it. He saw the snake slowly approached and began to coil around Sinon, who appeared to be staring off into the distance, completely unaware that a giant snake was about to squeeze the life out of her. Ferno quickly got up and jumped on one pillar, kicking off of it to another. He used that pillar to gain altitude. As soon as he was over the snake, he gripped his hand to summon his sword. It appeared just in time as he stabbed the snake in the back. The snake hissed and pulled away from Sinon.

The snake gazed at Ferno, who landed from stabbing it in the back. He held his sword in front of him and summoned a fireball in his other hand, while he cried out, "Come at me you overgrown corn snake!" This apparently struck a nerve with the boss, because it charged at him, fangs bared. Ferno jumped over it's attack, forcing it to crash into the wall. While in mid-air, he called out, "Doesn't feel good does it?" Ferno landed and stabbed the eye the snake used to hypnotise Sinon. The snake hissed and panicked for a while. Ferno used this chance to retreat. He swept Sinon off her feet and began to run into the hallway. "Man, good thing she's lighter than she looks." Ferno said to himself. " ...I hope she didn't hear that." He looked down at Sinon, who's white eyes were wide open, staring blankly. He turned around to see the snake begin charging at him. He quickly scrambled into the hallway, which was too small for the snake to fit. The snake hissed disapprovingly and slithered back to its sandy pit, burrowing back under. Ferno ran into the tunnel a safe distance away, just in case.

He set down Sinon on the ground and kneeled next to her. He looked through the index for anything about her debuff. Finally, he found it. "Hallucinations huh." he read about the debuff out loud, "Effect immobilizes the target," he looked down at Sinon, "Yeah I know that. For the debuffed, causes white vision and auditory hallucinations. Exclusive to certain enemies. Effect varies." He backed out of the index and began scrolling through his inventory. "Dammit, I know I have some Remedies here somewhere." Ferno scrolled for a while, until suddenly, "Ferno?"

"And that's basically what happened." Ferno said as he sat in the middle of the hallway. Sinon sat against the wall, staring down the hallway at the opening where light poured in. "I see, well I should thank you for saving my life. Again." Sinon said as she picked up her knees and put her arms on them. She buried her head. She thought about what the voice said. Its too much of a coincidence that the voice said that after what I been through, she thought. Yet, it's right. I need to change. Ferno piped up, "Hey, it's no problem. We're partners in this quest. It's what we do, we help each other out." For some reason, that agitated Sinon. She looked up and said in frustration, "But you've been doing all the work! I've been next to useless this entire quest! It's like this quest was made to screw me over." She yelled at Ferno, and Ferno looked at her in fear and wonderment. This guy, who fought four undead warriors and a giant snake, was scared of her. She smiled slightly at the fact, but since her head was down, he didn't see.

Ferno huffed and replied, "Then what do you want to do different?" That answer surprised her. She looked up at him. His red eyes gazed at her, "What do you want to change?" She flinched at that question. It's as if he knew what she heard. Ferno stared at her and she stared back. "That choice for change is not up to me you know? I'm the one helping you here, not vice versa." Sinon broke eye contact and put her head down. She knew what needed to change; her being used to being a background player. She knew there were times where she needed to step up, and this is one of them. She guessed she knew what she had to do.

Ferno got up and held out his hand. She looked up and at him. His piercing red eyes were more intense than warm. He wanted to finish this quest just as much as she does. But now, it seems like he wants it more. She knew she at least can't let him beat her in that. Sinon smiled confidently and took his hand and pulled her up. They quickly healed up and took off down the hallway.

"Alright you slithery sack of sand, come on out!" Ferno called out. The sand in the middle rumbled and the snake erupted out of the pile. It saw the two fairies and hissed aggressively. Ferno and Sinon look at each other and nod. Ferno sprints forward with his insane speed and summon his sword, slashing at the snake. It snapped down at Ferno, but he deflected its fangs, pushing its head to the side. Sinon saw this opportunity and shot at its eye, landing a direct hit. It hisses loudly and turned its good eye to Sinon. Sinon drew another arrow and shot it directly into its body. Ferno climbed onto its back and began slashing at its body, hacking away its health. The snake bucked and sent Ferno flying. "Ferno! Look out!" Sinon shouted. Ferno regained his control in the air and saw the snake charging him. The snake snapped and caught Ferno in its mouth. "No!" Sinon cried. Suddenly, the snake's mouth began to expand and it spat Ferno out, who was emitting a red hue. He landed face first into the ground. Sinon ran to his side but got hotter as she got close to him. He got up and cooled down, "Aw great I got snake spit all over me." Sinon laughed, "Oh it looks good on you, you should get swallowed more often." Ferno scoffed as he shook off the saliva, "Gee, thanks." He reignited himself and the saliva dissolved off his body. However, Sinon was still next to him when he did that, and she instantly felt on fire. "Ah, better." He said checking himself. Sinon was panting when she scolded, "How about next time don't do that with me so close!" Ferno chuckled.

The boss broke up this comedic moment. It regained its composure after being cooked from the inside and stared at Ferno and Sinon. "Ready to finish this?" Ferno asked. Sinon wiped some sweat from her forehead, "Yeah, let's do this." Ferno charged at the snake and Sinon drew her bow. Ferno ran up a pillar and began jumping from pillar to pillar. The snake watched as he jumped, waiting for a chance to jump. Suddenly as he traveled from pillar to pillar, he threw a fireball. This caught the snake by surprise. Sinon shot her arrow and it stabbed the snake in the side. It turned to look at Sinon, and Ferno took this chance to deliver his attack. He leaped off the pillar and stabbed the snake in the back of the head. The snake hissed and Ferno jumped off of it. Once he landed, the snake turned to him. Sinon fired more arrows, hitting it on the back of its head. The snake then turned to face Sinon. Ferno threw a fireball at its head, taking attention again. Sinon took this chance to execute her plan. She didn't tell Ferno about it, but it will certainly help him.

Ferno dodged a bite from the snake and threw a fireball in its mouth as it pulled back. He regrouped with Sinon. The snake recovered and charged for another bite. Ferno parried the attack and was expecting an arrow to fly in to strike the snake. Instead, he heard Sinon yell, "Switch!" He watched as Sinon ran in, bow still in hand. "Wait, Sinon!" Suddenly, Sinon dropped her bow, but it vanished as it left her hand. A bright light erupted from her left side. A sword hilt replaced the bright light, and Sinon thrusted forward, sending the snake reeling back.

Ferno watched in awe as the snake landed on its back, recovering from the attack. Sinon landed with her rapier in her right hand in front of her. "Amazing." Ferno managed to spit out. She turned around to look at Ferno while the snake was recovering, "Are you gonna sit there with your mouth on the ground or are you gonna help me kill this thing?" Ferno shook his head and nodded, "Yes ma'am." Ferno rejoined Sinon and both faced the snake, who was fully recovered from the hit. Sinon stepped forward as the snake dashed in for a bite. She parried the attack and sent the snake back, "Switch!" Ferno threw another fireball at the snake and slashed at its body. The snake then whipped its tail at Ferno, but he was fast enough to parry that. "Sinon!" Sinon leaped in the air and came face to face with the snake, "This is where things change." Sinon dashed forward, slashing its other eye out. It hissed in pain. Sinon landed on its back and leaped again, floating behind its head. She then launched an attack, which she repeatedly stab the snake in the head. Ferno watched in awe as she destroyed its health bar. The snake suddenly charged forward and turned to snap at Sinon, who was still in the air. Ferno lept in the air and shot a blast of fire directly into the snake's mouth. The snake recoiled back in pain. Both of them landed and watched the snake try to shake off the pain.

"Cool final attack?" Sinon asked Ferno. He smiled and looked at her, "Now you're speaking my language." Ferno summoned a fireball and folded his hand around the blade near the hilt. Careful not to cut himself, he pulled the sword as if drawing it from a sheath. Sinon saw the black blade was on fire with intense flames. Sinon held her rapier upright close in front of her. Her blade began to glow gold. The blade then erupted into a full sword made of light. Both Sinon and Ferno charged the snake in its weakened state. At the same time, Sinon thrusted forward and to the left as to not run into Ferno. Ferno slashed up to the right, but made sure to put distance to not get Sinon in the attack. Both of them came into contact with the snake at the same time. The blades pressed deeper into the snake's body, draining its health as the blades stayed in contact. After what seemed like a few minutes, both of their blades burst through the body of the snake. Spectacularly, both of them ended up behind the now still snake. Ferno sheathed his flames, using his hand as the sheath. Once extinguished, he threw his sword to the side. Sinon simply spun her sword and stuck it in the sand. The snake puffed up and exploded in blue shards.

Ferno waited for all the shards to disappear. "Man, that was awesome!" He ran up to Sinon, who just sheathed her rapier, "High five!" She smiled and decided to return the favor. After doing so, their rewards came up on the screen. Ferno and Sinon observed their rewards. "Snake's Fangs?" Sinon said aloud. "You go that too?" Ferno replied. Sinon nodded her head. Ferno checked the item, "Become a deadly force of nature. Allow the use of two weapons and the quick swap between them." Sinon's expression changed to surprise. She equipped the item, which appeared as a necklace of a pair of snake fangs. She also noticed another slot near her weapon slot. She put her bow in the slot, but nothing happened. "Select a swapping que?" Ferno looked up and smiled, "Ah I see, it's kind of like an extension of weapon summons." Sinon selected an action, so she snapped her fingers. As soon as she did so, her rapier disappeared and her bow appeared on her back. She snapped again and the reverse happened. "Wow, this is so cool." Sinon said in awe. "Man, I wish I had a second weapon to swap to." Ferno grumbled. Sinon laughed. "By the way Sinon," Ferno said, "How did you learn how to use a rapier?" "Well," Sinon started, "I actually had Asuna teach me. I knew I can't stay as a bow user forever. This item helps me with that. While I'm no where as good as Asuna in using it, I can hold my own." Ferno nodded, but asked, "So why didn't you use it in the hallway?" Sinon shyly looked away, "It's because I never used it reliably. I didn't feel to confident in my skills with it. Plus, I thought you would judge me if I used a weapon I barely used." Ferno laughed, "Please, I don't know how to use a rapier, so I can't judge you on something I know nothing about. So you pretty much beat me in that category." Sinon smiled smugly, "Finally I have something over the great and powerful Ferno." Ferno smiled but rolled his eyes, "Yeah Yeah, whatever." Sinon laughed. "Anyway," Ferno continued, "Mission complete. Let's get out of here. Please." Sinon laughed again and nodded.

As they were walking out, Sinon said, "What, you don't like this beautiful cave?" Ferno scoffed, "Exactly, and I hate sand too. And snakes." Sinon giggled, "Ditto to that." They began walking through the tunnel when she spoke up again, "Also, thanks. For helping me with this quest." Ferno looked her. She made eye contact with him for a second, but she looked away. "I couldn't have done this without your help." Ferno smiled and looked forward again, "Hey, it's no problem. That's what friends are for right?" Sinon looked down to avoid him seeing her. She smiled, "Yeah, friends."

 **AN: I know I know, this was on hiatus for a long time, but its literally been insane. I've been busy with my college semester and I know its only gonna get worse. But if you stuck around this long then Thank You, seriously!**


	5. Chapter 5

The monster whipped a strong gust of wind at the group. Ferno and Kirito stood their ground while Asuna struggled a bit more. "Of course, this is the only wind monster I don't have an advantage over." Ferno growled. The wind stopped and all three of them looked up. Ferno looks at Kirito, "Any ideas?" Kirito stares at Ferno for a few seconds then turns to Asuna, "Any ideas?" Asuna shakes her head. They were battling at the mouth of a meadow, with a thick forest nearby. The monster looked like a giant octopus, but it only had 4 tentacles for balance and its mouth was used to expel wind. Fighting this thing was Ferno, Kirito, and Asuna. Ferno and Kirito were DPS while Asuna was serving as a support. Things were not looking so well since every time anyone got close, the monster would blow them back.

Kirito suddenly got an idea. "I got it, how about this. I go in as a diversion to draw its wind attack. You two stay behind me so I can block as much wind as possible. Then I can drop by for you two to attack." Asuna stared at Kirito. _That's not gonna work, in fact it sounds completely illogical,_ Asuna thought. She opened her mouth to say something but Ferno quickly turned his head to Asuna, "Sounds good to me! You in, Asuna?" Shocked, Asuna tries to respond, "Wait, but-" However, Kirito and Ferno take off in a line formation. Asuna sighs and equips her rapier while chasing after them.

Asuna catch up to them. Ferno and Kirito stopped to let Asuna catch up, but now they can launch their attack. Kirito runs forward, with Asuna and Ferno behind him. Kirito jumps up and anticipated the gust. Instead, he got smacked in the face with a tentacle and is sent flying into the forest. "Kirito!" Ferno and Asuna simultaneously yelled. With him gone, they were left exposed in mid-air. The beast turned to them and blew a gust of wind. The fact that they were so close and suspended in mid-air made the attack more potent. Asuna got blasted back to Ferno, who also got sent back from the force of Asuna and the attack. The two landed a distance away from the beast… in an awkward position.

Ferno remained on his back, while Asuna was laying face down on his chest, adjacent to him. Asuna pressed her hands against his chest to get up, which made Ferno exhale in pain. "Are you okay?" Asuna asked Ferno. In a half-breath voice, Ferno replies, "Yes, now can you be so kind to get off of me so Kirito won't kill me?" Asuna checked her position and realized what he meant. She quickly backed off to her knees beside Ferno, who got the opportunity to sit up. Once upright, he rubbed his shoulder, "Now, I know you can't get mortal injuries in VR, but I feel like my shoulder is broken." Asuna gave a nervous laugh, "Well if it means anything, you made a good cushion." Ferno sighed, "You girls just love teasing me, huh." Asuna looked at Ferno in confusion. He simply shook his head, "N-nevermind. Anyway, what happened to Kirito?"

As if on cue, Kirito came flying in from the forest. Kirito saw Ferno sitting up rubbing his shoulder with Asuna looking around. Once he landed, Ferno asked, "How long did that thing send you?" Kirito rubbed the back of his head, "Quite the distance. You guys okay?" Ferno and Asuna nodded. Asuna got up, "Here, I'll cast a healing spell." Asuna chanted her cantation. A green glow enveloped the three of them. Ferno stopped rubbing his shoulder and got up. He then clenched his right hand, summoning his sword. "Alright, I like that idea Kirito, but let's try this." Kirito looked at Ferno in confusion, "Like how?" Ferno simply smiled at him. He then summoned a fireball and folded his hand along his blade near the hilt. Similar to what he did with Sinon, he pulled his sword from the flame sheath of his hand. Asuna and Kirito watched in awe as Ferno performed this, and even more amazed at his sword now on fire. "Asuna, can you perform MP-recovering spells?" Asuna nodded, "Of course." Ferno smiled confidently, "Alright. Kirito, stay behind me."

Ferno summoned his wings and gained altitude to head level of the of the beast. Kirito followed directly behind him, while Asuna followed them from below. The beast watched Ferno and Kirito rapidly approach. Kirito was amazed on how fast Ferno was, but his thought was cut short when he saw the beast inhale and release a gust of wind. Ferno swung his sword overhead and slashed into the gust. The sword stopped abruptly once it came in contact with the wind, splitting in front of Ferno and Kirito. Asuna watched in awe and noticed how rapidly Ferno's MP bar was draining. Kirito remembers this move. It was the same move he did on their first encounter. He pulled this deflect on that Malboro.

The gust ended and the beast was shocked to see the two fairies even closer than before. Ferno dropped and yelled, "Kirito! Asuna! Now!" Kirito drew his sword and delivered a fatal slash to the beast. The beast was a particularly squishy enemy, so it took a lot of damage from the hit. Ferno landed on the ground and was immediately enveloped in a blue aura. Ferno watched his MP bar recover and turned to Asuna, who gave him a confident smile. He gave her a thumbs up and flew back up. He used his sword of fire to slash upwards on the body. Kirito saw his direction and slashed downward once again nearby, delivering double damage. The beast howled as its health bar drained. Kirito and Ferno both burst through the best in opposite directions. The beast then exploded into blue shards, fading in the wind.

Kirito landed first and soon Ferno. Ferno then used his hand as the flame sheath, clenching his hand around the fireball to extinguish it. The rewards screen appeared in front of them. Kirito yawned, "Finally! That mob was getting on my nerves." He then turned to Ferno, "By the way, why didn't you do that sooner?" Ferno awkwardly smiled, "More of a challenge?" Asuna glared at him while Kirito chuckled. Kirito continued before Asuna strangled Ferno, "Anyway, let's head back into town." Ferno nodded, "Sounds good. Hopefully Liz is online. I want to ask her to repair my weapon." Asuna continued to glare at Ferno and said, "Not even a safe zone can save you now, Ferno." Ferno laughed nervously. Suddenly he summoned his wings and sped off. "Oh no you don't!" Asuna yelled before chasing him. Kirito laughed, "Man, he is fast." He summoned his wings and flew off after them.

The figure watched as the three of them flew off. He looked at his screen to look at the image. He chuckled at himself, "This will be enough."

 _One day later…_

Ferno sat in a the booth of a Salamander town cafe. He was called here by someone unknown. According to the source, this was important, and he had to come alone. Ferno sat with curiosity and worry. The cafe was dead around this time, very few tables with people inside them. Suddenly, a scrawny Salamander sits in front of him. Ferno looks up and growls, "Jakob." The small Salamander smiles, "Hello Ferno, long time no see."

Jakob was a smaller individual than Ferno. He looked younger as well, about 15 compared to a real life person. He is a knife and magic user, with no speed to compliment his blade. He compensates with his skill in magic. He wore a small red cloak that only fell past his shoulders. Under it, he wore a black long-sleeved shirt. The shirt tucked into his black shorts. He wore what looks like compression pants underneath this shorts. His shoes were similar to sneakers. His red hair was of medium length, parting unevenly to his right. He wore glasses over his red eyes.

"Your hair seems to have gotten longer, eh Ferno?" Jakob said casually. "Hair styles don't change over time, idiot." Ferno growled. "What do you want?" Jakob chuckled. Finally, he said, "You're with that group consisted of different races right? That Leprechaun, Sylph, Spriggan, Undine, and the two Cait Siths?" Ferno didn't move a muscle, "What about them?" Jakob smiled, "That Sylph is an attractive one. And quite famous no?" Ferno assumed he was talking about Leafa. "Where are you going with this?" Jakob leaned forward, "Help me win her over." Ferno laughed, "Like she'd go for a shrimp like you." Jakob didn't react, "And you are going to help me." Ferno scoffed, "And why would I do that?" Jakob simply pulled down his menu and pressed a few buttons. Ferno watched as he pulled up an image and flicked it to him.

Ferno stared wide-eyed as it was a picture of Asuna laying on top of him. According to the context of this photo, it looked like they were enjoying a day out in the fields, rather than fighting a giant wind-blowing monster. Ferno looked at Jakob, "Where did you get this picture?" Jakob simply shrugged, "I just happened to be in the area yesterday and managed to snap this photo." Ferno swallowed, but Jakob continued, "I wonder what kind of trouble this would cause if I showed this picture to _her_." The way Jakob said her gave a clear image of who he was referring to. Ferno suddenly shot up and grabbed Jakob by the collar and readied a fireball in his other hand. Ferno's teeth grinded as he stared down Jakob's smug face. Jakob tsked, "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that." Through clenched teeth, Ferno replied, "And why not?" Jakob smiled, "Because even if I die right now, I still have the picture. Also, you wouldn't want another manhunt for you, would you?"

Ferno stared at him with rage, but eventually let go of Jakob's collar and extinguished his flame. Ferno sat back down and kept his eyes down, "What do you want?" Jakob fixed his cloak and leaned back, "Take her out on a date. There's this beautiful neutral town that is a beach town. Take her there and have fun. But, at the end of the day, I will challenge you to a duel. Lose. Make me look good." Ferno held his urge to laugh, but simply responded, "If I do that, you will delete the picture." Jakob devilishly smiled and held his left hand up and his right on top of his heart, "You have my word." Ferno looked up and glared at him with murder in his eyes. "Now that this is over, I'll message you the details. See you later Ferno." Jakob got up and walked out. Ferno stayed staring at the table.

 _Later in the day…_

Outside the rain tapped softly on the house. The night was a rainy one in the Kirigaya household. Suguha walked in the kitchen and saw Kazuto at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich and reading news on the tablet. "Hey Kazuto." Suguha called out. He turned around from his news, "Yeah Sugu?" She leaned against the table, "Ferno just sent me a message, he wanted to explore a new town with me tomorrow. He claims the town's centered around elements." Kazuto simply smiled, "Oh cool. Can you get me a souvenir?" Sugu pouted, "That's it? No reaction?" Kazuto simply shrugged, "He hasn't confessed to you or anything. I don't see any underlying intent for that message." Suguha thought for a second, then sighed, "I guess you're right. But still, you're no fun." She pouted and turned away. Kazuto watched as she walked back to her room. As soon as she was out of sight, he quickly got out his phone and texted Asuna, ' _Asuna, we have an important mission tomorrow._ '

 _The next day…_

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Asuna asked as she selected her hair color to a green. Kirito applied the blue contacts, "No, but it's still worth a try." Asuna looked at herself in the mirror of the stylist. The NPC smiled and waited for a command, "You said it yourself though, there's no romantic intent with the invite." Kirito watched as his hair slowly faded from black to a light blue, "I know that, but I can't help it." Asuna chose her golden contacts, "You're protective, it's cute." Yui sat on Asuna's lap, "Mama is right Papa. It's funny to see you taking such measures to protect her." Kirito got up and sighed, "Great, now Yui's on your side now." Asuna giggled as she approached Kirito.

Kirito stared at Asuna's green hair and yellow eyes while she stared at his blue hair and eyes. Kirito wore a blue button-up shirt which was unbottened with a white shirt under it. His pants and boots were also blue. Asuna wore a green dress with white tights. She wore a green draping jacket that had two points behind her feet. "Would we really pass as an Undine and Sylph?" Kirito asked as he scanned their clothes. Yui flew to the top of his head, "The new customization options allow the races to look like others. As long as Leafa or Ferno don't get a good look at you, I'm sure you'll be unrecognizable." Asuna looked at Yui, "Also, you have to be hidden for this. If either of them see you, our cover will be blown. Yui gave Asuna a disappointed look, but nodded, "I get what you mean. Well, I'll just remain dormant. Also, keep in mind I can still see in my pendant form, so call me whenever you need me." Yui smiled and shifted to a small blue pendant. Asuna put the pendant around her neck while Kirito checked for Leafa and Ferno's location.

 _Later…_

Kirito and Asuna walked through the streets of a beautiful town. The town's buildings were white with blue accents on the top. Asuna observed the town as Kirito led them through the streets. The town was not busy but not empty either. "This place reminds me of Greece. That's probably were the inspiration came from." Asuna said in awe. Kirito kept his eyes gazed on the map to track Leafa's location. Kirito stopped at a corner of a street, "She's on this street." Asuna and Kirito peeked around the corner and saw Leafa sitting at a table in front of a cafe. Ferno was nowhere in sight. "Where's Ferno?" Asuna asked. Kirito hummed, "I have no idea." As if right on cue, Ferno walked out of the cafe with two beverages in his hand.

Ferno set down the smoothie in front of Leafa and sat with his own drink. Leafa took a sip of her strawberry smoothie and smiled, "For someone with the best battle instincts I've seen, you do choose a beautiful place to take a girl out." Ferno drank some of his soda and shyly smiled, "Well I tried." Leafa put her drink aside and leaned forward, sitting her head on her hands, "Plus, such a notorious Salamander out with the Sylph's best fighter? This puts a big target on our back, doesn't it?" Ferno leaned back and rested his right foot on his knee, "I guess you're right." he smiled, "Guess we should watch our backs huh?" Leafa keeps the smug look on her face, "I agree." _Confident as usual Leafa._ Ferno thought. Meanwhile inside Leafa's head, she was extremely embarrassed and trying her best to not get red. However, she still has the suspicion that there's some other reason they're here, but she can't figure it out. She just decided to just enjoy herself today.

Kirito and Asuna watched the two talked and sip away at their drinks. Asuna smiled, "They look like they're enjoying themselves." Kirito gave a unimpressed look, "And I don't like it." Asuna laughed at Kirito's expression. After a while, the two got up and began walking away. Kirito and Asuna followed them as they walked along the road and made a left. The two quickly crossed the street and pursued their targets. Once they got to the street Ferno and Leafa made a left on, they realized there was a beach across the street. "This place is so pretty." Exclaimed Asuna. Kirito stared at the beach, "Yeah, you're right."

"Look! Can we go to the beach?" Leafa said enthusiastically. "Did you bring anything to wear at the beach?" Ferno asked. Leafa nervously smiled "Not really." Ferno sighed, "How about we look through a few shops for now and buy some summer wear? Afterwards, we can come back." Leafa smiled, "Alright, sounds good. You really know how to plan a date." Ferno looked away, embarrassed, "Oh please." Leafa laughed as they walked into an item shop.

Kirito got the gist of that conversation, despite not hearing a thing. "She wants to go to the beach." Kirito said. Asuna looked at him, "And is there something wrong with that?" Kirito simply stared ahead, then mumbled to himself, "That sly dog." Despite being ignored, Asuna still finds the day to be amusing. Together, Kirito and Asuna walked into the same item shop.

Kirito saw Ferno looking at stones while Leafa was making a purchase. Kirito stared at the unaware Ferno as Asuna looked at the different items on sale. After a while, Leafa began to turn around and Kirito quickly looked away. He looked back just in time to see Leafa on her menu in front of Ferno.

"What's this?" Ferno asked upon receiving the medallion. "Equip it and light a small flame." Leafa said holding up her index finger. Ferno equipped the item and snapped his fingers. On his thumb was a small blue flame, instead of a red one. Ferno's eyes widened in amazement, "Woah! This is pretty cool." Leafa smiled, "Glad you like it. Its my thank you for inviting me here." Ferno turned red, "Uh, it's no problem really." Leafa smiled, "Now, how about we keep going?" Ferno shook off his embarrassment and nodded.

Kirito watched as Leafa gave his gift to Ferno, then walk out of the shop. Asuna finalized a purchase and rejoined Kirito. She looked at Kirito, "So what happened?" Kirito started to walk out with Asuna, "She got him a cosmetic gift. Turns his fire blue from red." "Oh, how nice of her." Asuna said. Kirito leered, "Yeah, almost too nice." Kirito and Asuna walked out and caught up to Ferno and Leafa, who were still following the street. Kirito watched as Leafa and Ferno appeared to be caught up in a rather fun conversation. He saw Leafa turn her head to a store and pointed at the sign to Ferno. He looked up and nodded. Kirito and Asuna looked at the sign, then Asuna said, "Oh, it's a summer store. That must mean they're getting beachwear." Kirito imagined the scenario of what might happen inside and rushed in. Asuna followed close behind.

Sadly, Kirito lost them. "Kirito, can you help me shop around please?" Asuna asked in a cute way. Kirito sighed and agreed. Asuna stepped in a dressing room and closed the drapes. She tried on different combinations of small, thin jackets, summer dresses, shirts, shorts, and various accessories. Frankly, Kirito forgot about Ferno and Leafa while he shopped with Asuna. She asked for his opinion with every outfit and deviation. After a long while, Kirito sat down at a couch near the dressing rooms to wait for Asuna to finalize her purchase. He looked at the guy next to him and almost had a panic attack. Next to him was a red-eyed Salamander scrolling through his menus - Ferno.

Ferno looked up at Kirito who quickly looked away, nervous. With a bored expression, Ferno began to conversate, "Hey, waiting for someone too?" Kirito looked at Ferno and nodded, "M-My wife. What about you?" Ferno leaned back and looked at the ceiling, "This girl I'm friends with. I asked her to hang out here today." Kirito slowly started to relax, now realizing Ferno doesn't recognize him, "How's your time with her so far?" Ferno stayed staring at the ceiling, "Honestly, having a better time than I thought. She teases me a lot but she has good intentions." Kirito swallowed, then asked, "What are your intentions though?" Ferno looked at Kirito. Kirito felt a pit in his stomach. _Did I just blow my cover?_ He thought. Ferno chuckled and looked back up at the ceiling, "Jeez, what are you, her dad? But seriously, I just wanna enjoy this day. And if everything follows my plan, I definitely will." Kirito imagined what Ferno meant by that. He resisted the urge to attack him. Just as he was about to burst, he heard a call. "Ferno!" He saw Leafa run up to the two of them. She turned to Kirito and stared intensely at him, "Who's this Ferno?" He looked at her, then Kirito, "Oh, um, this is…" Ferno turned to Kirito, "What's your name?" In his most casual voice, Kirito says, "Leo, I'm a Undine." Leafa smiled, "Good to meet ya. Let's go Ferno." Ferno held out his fist to Kirito, "Seeya later man, good luck with your wife." Kirito fist bumps Ferno and they walk away. As soon as they are gone, Kirito exhales deeply. Asuna walks up to him, "What happened?" Kirito simply says in a shaky voice, "I need to stop him." Asuna's confused expression does not change.

Kirito and Asuna watched as the other two crossed the street and onto the sand. Kirito watched as Leafa's hand go to the outfit swap button. He tried to look away but the shock was too much. The moment of panic was instantly broken however as Leafa's outfit changed from her usual outfit to a green summer dress with white flowers on the bottom and a straw hat with a green ribbon around it. Even Ferno changed. Instead of his black open button up shirt, red shirt, black pants, and boots, he wore a simple dark red tank top and black summer shorts with black sandals. Asuna watched in awe, "Aw! They look so adorable!" Kirito simply stared both in embarrassment and disappointment. Kirito and Asuna sat under an umbrella on two chairs and watched as they played in the water. Leafa constantly used her wind to make bigger splashes at Ferno. Asuna took this time to nap.

The rest of the day was long for Kirito. Every time he anticipated something terrible, the opposite happened. Eventually, Kirito got less and less panicked about everything they did, since it was mostly Leafa teasing Ferno. Eventually, it became evening. Kirito and Asuna sat in front a cafe as Kirito watched the two across the street overlooking the beach.

"You know Ferno, I had fun today." Leafa said. Ferno was leaning on the handrail that separated the sand and concrete. Ferno smiled, "Yeah, so did I." Ferno and Leafa watched the sun touch the horizon. Leafa yawned, making Ferno yawn. "Log out time?" Leafa nodded, "Let's hang out again sometime. I still need to beat your high score on that arcade mini-game." Ferno scoffed, "Not in a million years." Ferno and Leafa exchanged confident looks.

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Not so fast Ferno!" Ferno looked to the sound of the voice. _Ah, dammit._ Ferno thought. Jakob stood in the middle of the street with a confident smile on his face. Leafa turned to Ferno, "You know him?" Ferno had a annoyed expression on his face, "Sadly." Leafa felt like she knew this person, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. "What do you want?" Ferno called out. Jakob ignored him and looked at Leafa, "Leafa, how about you ditch this excuse of a Salamander and come hang out with me?" Ferno gritted his teeth. Kirito sat up and watched what was going down. "Leafa's quite popular, huh?" Asuna said casually as she watched as well. Leafa stared at the short Salamander, then it hit her, "You're Jakob! Aren't you?" Jakob was suddenly hit with a wave of embarrassment, "Y-Yes, I am! You simply can't turn me down now after I beat this nobody!" He quickly issued a challenge to Ferno. Ferno turned to Leafa, "You know him too?" Leafa simply nodded, "When I first joined ALO, he tried time and time again to ask me out, despite not knowing a thing about me. He tried impressing me one way or another, but ended up embarrassing himself." She looks at him, "I guess this is going to be another one of those times." Jakob yelled in frustration, "Hey don't ignore me! Accept the challenge or I break our deal!" Ferno's bored look turned deadly. His expression made Kirito, Leafa, and Asuna shudder.

Ferno accepted the challenge and a big 60 started to tick down above their heads. "Ferno, what deal?" Leafa asked. Ferno swapped from his summer outfit back to his fighting outfit. He looked around and saw that they attracted a crowd. He stepped off the sidewalk and into the street. "You want to explain it Jakob? Cause quite frankly I don't care for it anymore." Jakob growled and withdrew his knife. He looked at Leafa, "B-Basically, he was supposed to get you out here and throw our duel." Leafa looked at Ferno, "Why did you agree to that?" Ferno had a mixture of boredom and murder on his face. "Because," Jakob yelled, "I have a photo that will definitely push Monique to abandon him!"

"So that was your plan all along." A voice called from the crowd. A woman walked forward from the crowd as the counter ticked zero. All the Salamanders gasped in awe as she walked up. She was a Salamander, obviously told by her red eyes and red hair pulled into a ponytail. Her bangs fell and covered her right eye. She wore a black long coat and had a dark red shirt under. She wore black pants with a red belt wrapping around her waist. Her boots were black with red accents, similar to Ferno's. Kirito flinched on the sight of her, because she reminded him of Rosalia back in SAO. Aside from her longer red hair and pointy ears, she could've passed for twins. But this woman had a more honorable look, apart from Rosalia's seductive sadist look. Strapped across her back was a single longsword that had a black hilt.

She looked up and saw the duel mark. "Oh excuse me, am I interrupting something?" Jakob stood frozen. Ferno gave a confident smile, "Ah, Monique! No, actually. I was about to throw the match." Monique walked up to Ferno, "You know I wouldn't forgive you if you lost." Ferno laughed, "Yeah, Yeah. I know." Monique smiled and looked at the still-frozen Jakob, "At this point, I don't care what the blackmail is. Just make it quick, okay Ferno?" She patted his chest. He turned to Jakob and summoned his sword. "With pleasure." Jakob saw and slowly began to rebuild his composure. Monique walked and stood next to Leafa, who was embarrassed beyond belief. Monique looked at Leafa, "And you must be Leafa." Leafa simply nodded. Leafa couldn't believe that someone can be so beautiful yet so scary.

Ferno began to walk forward. Jakob swallowed, "You think I'm scared of you just because of your relations to her?" Every Salamander in the crowd had a distasteful look on their face. _I wonder why they hate someone of their own race._ Kirito wondered. Ferno smiled devilishly, "See, you shouldn't be worried about me and her now." Ferno looked into Jakob's eyes, "You should be scared of just me." Ferno suddenly summoned a fireball and crushed it in his hand. He ignited in blue flames rather than red. Fire flicked on his arms, torso, and back. Ferno began to glow in a blue hue. Every Salamander in the crowd as well as Jakob flinched. Leafa noticed that even Monique was surprised, though her expression was a mixture of boredom and surprise.

Jakob began chanting a spell. Ferno simply stood and watched. Although Ferno was expecting an offensive spell, he instead saw that it was a stat boosting spell. He quickly noticed the signal spinning around Jakob was speed. Jakob then rushed Ferno with his knife. Ferno simply sidestepped the jab. Jakob followed up with a combo of knife slashes. Ferno dodged them all, seemingly without struggle. Leafa watched the duel ensue. She turned to look at Monique. Monique simply stood and watched the fight with a smile on her face, not worried that Jakob was on the offensive. "Um, Monique, was it?" Leafa said. Monique turned and nodded, "Yes, what is it?" Leafa swallowed and asked, "Are you not worried for Ferno? Jakob seems to have him on the run." Monique did a small giggle, "I'm not worried at all actually. It's Jakob that I'm worried about. Ferno isn't taking this seriously." She turned back to the fight, "Aren't you Ferno?" Ferno blocked and parried an attack by Jakob, then pushed him back with a burst of heat. He turned to Monique and Leafa and smiled, "Man, you know me too well Monique." Jakob's eyes widened, "He was just messing around?" Ferno confidently smiled and rushed Jakob.

Jakob had no time to react. He winced when Ferno slashed his chest. Ferno stopped behind him and blasted Jakob in the air. Ferno summoned his wings and flew up. He caught Jakob mid-air and held him by the collar. Ferno threw his sword and summoned a blue fireball, "Man, this is gonna feel better for me than for you." Jakob shuddered in fear and gulped. Ferno crushed the fireball and his fist ignited. He threw a fatal punch at Jakob so hard that he was sent flying into the sand on the beach. The impact was loud, and a large sandy cloud erupted. The dust settled and Jakob was knocked out with a dumb smile on his face. Ferno floated down to the ground, "Damn, knocked him out silly." As soon as he touched the ground, his blue flames disappeared along with his wings. Ferno watched as a group of Salamanders ran to the crater and picked up Jakob with looks of disappointment.

Monique and Leafa walked up to Ferno. Ferno gave a confident smile, "How about that for fast?" Monique shook her head, "You didn't have to let him believe he had a chance." Ferno scratched the back of his head, "I just wanted to have some fun." "Also," Monique began, "how is your fire blue?" He pointed to the small medallion around his neck, "Leafa gave this to me." Leafa turned red as Monique looked at her. She gave Leafa a murderous smile, "Ah, I see. Trying to steal him away, then." Leafa was a mixture of embarrassment and horror, "I-no-I didn't- I mean." Monique stared at Leafa with the terrifying smile as Leafa stuttered her words. Ferno put a hand on Monique's shoulder, "It's nothing, Monique. Don't worry about it." Unconvinced, Monique simply nodded. Leafa relaxed a bit, "Quick question, who are you Monique?" Kirito and Asuna walked up behind them.

"We could ask the same thing." Kirito said. Ferno, Monique, and Leafa stared at the two fairies before them. "Do you know these two?" Monique asked. Ferno shrugged and Leafa shook her head. "Oh right." Asuna said. She tapped Kirito's shoulder. Kirito got the message. Both of them swapped from their disguises and back into their regular clothes, though their eyes and hair stayed the same. "Kirito?" Ferno said in a surprise. "Asuna?" Leafa also said, surprised. Asuna also tapped the pendant on her chest. Yui appeared with a dazzle. "Anyway," Kirito began, "care to explain?"

 _Shortly…_

Everyone met in a cafe nearby. Sinon, Silica, and Liz also took the opportunity to join them. Together, they sat in the mostly empty cafe booth. The booth was open on both sides, since it was in the middle of the floor. Ferno and Monique sat casually on one side. Everyone else sat on the other side and the table ends. Leafa sat on a chair on one end, with Kirito, Asuna, Silica, and Sinon in the booth, in that order. Liz sat in a chair on the other end of the table. Yui rested in Kirito's jacket pocket. Kirito and Asuna also took the opportunity to change their hair and eyes. Leafa also changed back to her regular clothes.

Sinon and Liz tried to intimidate Monique by staring at her, but eventually both gave up due to the vibe they get off of her. "So," Ferno said, "Is anyone gonna say something? This is getting kinda awkward." Kirito sighed, "Guess I'll start. Who are you?" Monique nodded, "My name is Monique. I am a diplomat among the Salamander hierarchy and a General for the army. Pleased to meet you all." Everyone but Ferno shifted uncomfortably. No one was expecting her to be such a high-ranking individual. Now everyone was curious on her fighting capabilities. Leafa followed, "Okay then, next question. How do you know Ferno?" Monique nodded once again, "Oh that's easy. I'm his future wife." Ferno didn't flinch, but did get red.

There was a short silence in the air. Leafa looked down to hide her embarrassment. Everyone but Kirito turned red and simultaneously said, "What?" Ferno chose now to say something, "I wonder how long you were stuck on that idea." Monique pouted and turned to Ferno, "Why do you have to be so mean shutting me down like that?" Ferno put his elbow on the table and head on his hand, "Because I don't wanna become some boring Diplomat. I've told you this." Everyone had a mixture of confusion and embarrassment on their face. Finally, Kirito spoke up, "How did all this start?" Ferno looked at Monique, who was looking away from him, sulking, "Wanna tell this story?" She looked back at him and smiled, "My, I guess you know me as well as I know you." Ferno turned forward and smiled to himself.

Monique began, "Well, we actually met in a beginner town. We both barely started playing the game and Ferno was brave enough to ask me to party up with him for quests." Ferno turned red. Kirito looked at Asuna, who smiled nervously. Monique continued, "I originally started as an archer," Sinon's ears perked up, "And Ferno started as a knife-user." Silica also leaned forward. Monique smiled dreamly, "For those beginning levels, we were a wonderful duo. Ferno put all of his points on speed and attack. I used my skills to support him while he was constantly on the front lines." Monique then sighed, "But as we got stronger, Ferno realized that a knife wouldn't cut his playstyle anymore. Pun intended." Ferno sighed and Monique giggled. "It was like that for a while. We were quite the dynamic duo. But we were also troublemakers. We didn't like the way the higher-ranked players treated the rookies. So we would disrupt the players with the most money by playing pranks on them and also killing enemies in army hunting grounds. Eventually he taught me how to use a sword to double our killing efficiencies. I was as good as him eventually. Maybe even better." Ferno looked at Monique. Monique smiled and scooted closer to Ferno and leaned on his arm. "We had so much fun." Asuna whispered to Kirito, "They're so cute." Monique continued, "Until we got captured. We were threatened with banishment." Both Ferno and Monique share a sad expression. Everyone feels the sadness from them. "But what happened?" Asuna asked. Monique sat back up, "I told them I'll join the government if they left Ferno alone." Ferno growled, "And they lied. When they met me, I was running from a bounty." Monique looked down in disappointment, "Yes, I know. I wish I can quit."

Sinon leaned forward, "Why don't you?" Monique sighed, "Because if I do, it'll be considered treason. They want someone to replace me. And that someone is Ferno. They want us to marry so he would be obligated to work for the higher-ups." Ferno growled, "And there is no way in hell I would help them." Liz stood up and stared at Ferno, "And you won't help her by relieving her of her duties? What kind of man does that make you?" Silica looked at Liz worryingly, "Liz…" Ferno didn't look up at her, "And that's what I'm constantly told. But here's the thing. Remember that ability I used to unlock your earth powers?" Liz looked at him, "What about it?" He then looked up at her, "Imagine if the entire Salamander army had that amount of power." Liz thought about it for a second, then sat back down.

Kirito looked at the two Salamanders, "So that's their plan. She's the blackmail." Both of them nodded. "And they've gotten impatient." Monique starts. Everyone leans forward. Ferno seems a bit annoyed for some reason. "They try to force me to marry random players to bait Ferno into marrying me first." Monique suddenly smiles, "But instead, he challenges them to a duel and utterly destroys them to prevent them from marrying me. Isn't he so sweet?" She smiles and hugs Ferno's arm. Ferno looks away and turns red. Asuna and Silica smile genuinely while everyone else smiles nervously. "I just do it in hopes they learn their lesson. No more, no less." Ferno mumbles. Monique pouts, "Oh stop being a tsundere." Ferno opens his mouth to say something, but decides against it. Monique sits back up, "That's also why he's gonna participate in the upcoming tournament." Everyone looks in confusion. Ferno shifts, "Yeah, the deal is if I win we get off this ultimatum. If I lose, I join the army." Everyone sits in silence. The stakes are literally staggering.

"But I trust him." Everyone looks at Monique. "I trust him. I believe he can win and give us freedom." Ferno smiles confidently. She then turns to Ferno, "Then you can take me on a date like Miss Leafa." Sinon, Liz, and Silica turn to stare at Leafa, who starts to turn red, "It wasn't anything bad! Ferno was blackmailed into doing it." The three of them stare unconvinced. Monique laughs, "Oh Ferno always had an eye for romantic locations. I remember when we were running from the Salamander armies we ended up hiding in a small cave with stunning crystals in it." Ferno didn't say anything and just had his eyes shut, leaning back. "He was so sweet, the lighting, the mood, it was perfect. He even leaned in for-" Ferno put his hand over her mouth, red in the face, "That's enough, they get it." The girls sigh disappointingly, wanting her to finish her thoughts.

Kirito leans forward, "So when does this tournament start?" Monique looked at the spriggan. "In a few days, but sign-ups start tomorrow. Oh, and did I mention its an element tournament?"


	6. Chapter 6

After the situation was told, everyone decided that now would be a good time to log out. Upon stepping outside, everyone but Asuna began to shiver. "Man, why's it so cold here at night?" Ferno complained. Asuna gave a subtle laugh, "It's probably because of the ocean. Being near the water naturally lowers the environment temperature you know." Kirito shivered and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Even with this coat I'm still cold." Liz sneezed, "I'm not sure if it's possible to get a cold in VR, but it feels like I'm getting one." Ferno instantly perked up. He summoned a fireball in his hand, which made everyone flinch. He crushed it in his hand and he ignited. Small flames flicked from all around his clothes. Monique relaxed and took a step closer to him. Ferno closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. Suddenly, the fire flicking slowly became more and more large and intense. Leafa watched as the flames grew in size, but she also noticed it was getting warmer.

"Ferno, I have no idea what you're doing, but it certainly helps." Sinon said, relaxed. Kirito was the last to feel warm. "It's nothing special, I just flared up my elemental powers. The fire around my clothes is just an indicator on how strong my fire would be. Every element has a visual cue." Kirito looked at Leafa, "Then what's yours Leafa?" Leafa looked at her hand, "I have no idea. I never knew there was an aura effect." She focused to summon a ball of wind in her hand, then crushed it. Leafa looked down at herself but didn't notice anything. "Oh, I see what it is." Asuna said. Leafa scanned her body but didn't find anything, "I can't see it." Asuna pointed to her arms, "You have small wisps of wind circling around your body." Everyone saw that she was right, except Ferno and Kirito. Kirito looked away to avoid awkwardness and Ferno avoided noticing due to Monique's glare. "She's right. I can see wind flowing up and down your body. Also, your loose clothing looks like it's being blown in the wind." Silica pointed out. Leafa looked at her hands, "Interesting. I need to practice this for sure."

Leafa looked at Ferno, who was avoiding eye contact still, "Hey Ferno, you seem...different." Ferno turned to her in confusion, "In what way?" Leafa put her hand under her chin, "In looks, something seems off." Monique took a look at him, "Ah I see. You have a different outfit." Everyone took a better look, and realized she was right. Ferno was no longer wearing his old, basic gear. Instead of a button-up shirt exposing his red chestplate, he was wearing a jacket with the sleeves pulled up past his elbows. The jacket was black but had dark red accents along the zipper and other small details of the jacket. Under it, he still had a dark red chestplate that seemed to be made from a different material than his previous one. It sat above a black shirt with dark red accents. Liz smiled slightly, but kept its origins to herself. On his left wrist was a charm of snake fangs. Sinon also kept that to herself. He no longer wore the black joggers, but now wore black cargo pants. His boots were still the same, black with red details.

"For some reason, that style makes you seem more mature." Sinon said. "So you're saying my last one looked immature?" Ferno replied. Liz smiled, "Yeah, couldn't take you seriously before." Ferno sighed while everyone laughed. Monique still looked at him, frustrated, "Let me see your sword." Ferno looked down at her, "Why?" Monique stared at him, "Got something to hide?" Ferno swallowed, "O-Of course not." He held out his hands like he was presenting a sword and closed his right hand. The sword ignited into existence. Silica instantly became nervous at the sight of the blade. Monique observed the black and maroon blade. It's jade jewel glinted in the moonlight. Monique suddenly stomped her foot, "I knew it, you completely replaced all the gear I gifted you!" Ferno sighed, "Is that a bad thing?" Monique stared at him, "Yes! Because I bought you that gear set. Where did you get all that gear?"

Sinon, Silica, and Liz instantly felt a chill down their spines. They can only imagine what wrath that woman was capable once she found out that the gear was earned with them. Especially Liz and Silica's gear, who were gifts to him. Ferno put his hand on his waist, "Obviously from monster drops. What other way can you get gear?" Monique crossed her arms, "Also as gifts." Ferno simply gave a confident smile and shooed his hand, "C'mon, remember the last person that gifted me an item? You forced them to challenge you and you gave them a beatdown." All of them felt more nervous. He pointed to his chestplate, "I got the material for this armor from a quest reward," he then pointed to his snake charm, "boss drop, and," he held up his sword, "boss drop item." Monique stared at Ferno's confident smile for a small while, then uncrossed her arms. "You still have all the gear I gifted you?" Ferno vaporized his sword and nodded, "Of course, I wouldn't sell it to save my life." Monique gave a satisfying smile, "You always know what to say, don't you?" As Ferno and Monique resolved that conflict, the three girls relaxed with a deep breath. Leafa, Kirito, Asuna, and Yui looked at them in confusion. Sinon however, was still curious to see her in combat. She hoped however she wouldn't be her opponent.

Together, the fairies decided to retire to their respective player homes and log off. But they also decided to walk through the town now that they had Ferno's warming aura surrounding them. Monique used that as an excuse to be closer to him. They got to admire the night sights of the beach town without freezing to death. Once they left the town and were a reasonable distance, they ran into some trouble.

Once outside of the town, they decided to take flight. They didn't get very far because suddenly they were surrounded by Salamander soldiers. Everyone drew their weapons and prepared for a fight. Yui dove into Kirito's pocket. A larger Salamander floated down from the sky, and was accompanied by a smaller fairy with a red cloak on. "Now now, everyone. Let's not resort to violence so quickly." The large Salamander said. "That's quite ironic coming from you, Lieutenant Bakuru." Said Monique. "Ah Miss Monique, we have found you at last. Now come, we'll escort you back to your player home in the capital city." Monique didn't have her sword out, so she crossed her arms and scoffed, "I don't need your escort. I'm having this group escort me instead. Certainly a friendlier group than your bunch of goons." Ferno regripped his hand around his sword's hilt, "And we could prove it, right here, right now." Bakuru frowned is disapproval, "How about this, Miss. If you agree to land, I'll tell you what I'm really here for." Ferno and Monique looked at each other. They both nodded. "Fine," Monique said, "we agree." Slowly, the crowd descended to the grass below them.

Upon touching the ground, Bakuru began, "Now Miss, I'm here with the topic of player marriage." Ferno stepped forward from Monique's right, "Again? Was one time not enough, so you want seconds?" Everyone felt Ferno's aura grow more intense. Bakuru smiled devilishly, "Now now, Ferno. It's not her marriage I'm talking about." Ferno and Monique looked at him with confusion. Everyone even turned around to look at the scene unfolding behind them. "Why don't you introduce yourself, Umaika?" The small shrouded person next to him suddenly exploded to life. A girl sprouted from the red garb and tightly embraced Ferno with incredible speed. Everyone watched in shock at what's going on. The girl latched onto Ferno, "Ferno, I finally get to meet you! My name is Umaika and I've been waiting for an opportunity since forever." Ferno tried pushing her away but failed. _Man, she has a vice grip on me._ Ferno thought. Everyone else took note about her appearance.

She was about Sinon's height, with obvious incredible speed. She had bright red eyes and glossy red hair pulled into twintails and her bangs sat neatly on her forehead. She wore a red long sleeve tunic with a silver chest plate and forearm guards for armor. She also wore a red skirt with white line circling the ends. She wore red leggings that had a white stripe going down the outsides. Her boots were mainly red with black straps and laces. She also had a Rapier with a red hilt and holster strapped on her left side.

"When they gave me the opportunity to marry you, I literally couldn't contain my excitement." Umaika ecstatically said. Ferno struggled to escape her grasp, "I don't even know you!" Umaika pressed herself closer to him. "We can always get to know each other more after we marry. You will marry me, won't you? I know you love to adventure. We can go on tons of adventures. You won't have to worry about that boring diplomat if you marry me. C'mon, please?" Bakuru smiled evilly and Umaika smothered Ferno. Everyone watched in astonishment as the scene played out in front of them. Leafa looked Monique, who appeared to be staring at the ground with her arms crossed.

Umaika buried her face in Ferno's chest, "Your aura is so warm. I can feel it coursing through my body." She held him tighter. Ferno turned red as he still struggled to escape. He tried summoning his sword but she quickly grabbed his wrist, "Trying to harm me? How could you do that to your future wife?" She put his hand on her waist and started to lean in. Liz mumbled to herself, "This has got to be some sort of sexual harassment." Ferno turned red as Umaika's face got closer to his. Suddenly, he heard a sword being unsheathed. A silver blade appeared between them. Umaika stopped herself before she came in contact with the sword. Both of them turned to Monique who was glaring at Umaika. "Oh, so now the poised ambassador decides to get her hands dirty." Umaika snarkly says. Ferno realized that Monique's eyes were glowing. Monique started to step forward, "Let him go, or else I won't give you a fighting chance." Ferno felt her grip loosen as Monique started to come between them. As soon as she let go, Ferno stumbled back and took some deep breaths. Everyone else behind him watched in awe. Leafa noticed that Monique had the same aura as Ferno. Flames flicked all around her clothes, and surprisingly around the ends of her hair.

"You have some nerve being so forward with him while I'm around." Monique said sternly. Umaika smiled devilishly, despite having a silver blade pointed at her. "Because of your advancements, I challenge you to a duel. Right now." Umaika scoffs, "Fine, but if I win, I keep your "partner." " Monique nodded, "And if I win, you leave us alone." Ferno piped up, "Hey now! Wait a minute!" Too late for Ferno, as the countdown has begun. He stepped back into the group of his friends. Bakuru and the other Salamander soldiers stepped back as well. Umaika drew her blade. The blade itself was white, matching her color palette. "I knew this was going to happen, so I trained super hard for this." Umaika said, "Best prepare yourself, _ambassador._ " Monique's scary look grew even more terrifying. As the clock ticked closer to zero, Monique's flames grew more intense.

As soon as the countdown hit zero, Umaika dashed forward and tried to slash Monique's head. Monique ducked, and Umaika kept her forward momentum. She almost slashed Ferno, but luckily he had the reflexes to summon sword and block the attack. "Hey, I'm not the one you're fighting!" he exclaimed. Umaika quickly turned around to face Monique, who simply stood and watched. Umaika rushed again, but instead of dodging, Monique parried her strike. Umaika grunted as her sword was knocked above her head, leaving her exposed. Monique horizontally slashed twice across Umaika's exposed torso, then performed two more powerful vertical slashes. She was about to thrust her sword into Umaika's chest, which would've meant instant death, but Umaika dodged at the last second. She jumped to the side and looked down at the glowing red grids along her torso. She looked up and smiled, "That would've been a boring conclusion to this fight, don't you think ambassador?" Monique scoffed, "You're right. I would've been severely disappointed in both you and Bakuru over there for making me face such a weak opponent." Umaika gritted her teeth, "So you think I'm weak, huh?" Monique chuckled, "Well, considering I took down a good percentage of your health with only one combo, you're not exactly much of a challenge." Umaika held her sword in front of her as it started to glow green, "I'll show you weak!"

Umaika summoned her wings and rushed forward. As soon as she was in range of Monique she unleashed a flurry of strikes. Monique tried to parry her strikes, but her movement was so fast that the combo didn't grant enough time to fit attacks in. Her final strike was an uppercut slash, which Monique managed to block. However the force of the strike sent Monique flying upwards. Umaika flew after her and attempted to strike Monique while vulnerable. Miraculously, she blocked the strike, but was sent back in mid-air. She managed to summon her wings and recover. Everyone watched as the fight was now taken from the ground into the air. Monique retaliated by rushing Umaika with quick, strong slashes. Umaika managed to dodge all of them. Ferno frowned disappointingly, "She's fast. Monique's speed is high, but not as fast as Umaika." Kirito nodded, "And here I thought you were fast." Ferno scoffed, "Of course I'm fast, but that's just movement speed. They're fast when it comes to attack. Big difference." Kirito and Ferno continued to talk when they were almost hit with a blast of fire. Both of them managed to jump out of the way.

The duo turned their attention back to the fight and realized why they were almost hit. Monique was slinging fire strikes at Umaika. Umaika could only dodge or deflect the blasts of flame. Monique's sword slashes unleashed a wave of fire while her left hands slung fireballs. Pretty soon, it was raining fire within the entire area.

Monique stopped slinging flames momentarily and summoned a small fireball in her hand. She crushed it and instantly began to glow red with flames. Her sword vanished and she charged into Umaika bare-handed. Umaika grinned and prepared to skewer the charging ambassador. Right as contact was for sure about to be made, Monique vanished for a second. Umaika stared in confusion and awe at the now empty space in front of her. Suddenly she felt heat behind her. She turned her head and saw Monique's bright red eyes staring directly into her soul. She looked like she was about to slash but had no sword in her hand. However as her hand came down, a black and maroon sword materialized. Monique slashed twice in a cross and blasted Umaika toward the ground with the force of pure heat that everyone on the ground could feel. Umaika managed to prevent herself from becoming one with the ground, but she noticed she taken a ton of damage.

Everyone - except Ferno - stared in amazement at the intense aura resonating from Monique. She gripped her new sword in her hand and gazed at Umaika. Liz got a realization, "Hey, her sword looks like -!" Everyone looked at Ferno and saw he was leaning on a silver blade, "Yup, that's mine." Asuna stared in amazement, "But, how? How did you guys switch weapons instantly?" Ferno sighed, "Duo link. Two players can link up at have the ability to swap weapons. It can be any weapon really." Ferno looked at Asuna and Kirito, "Even you guys can do it, but I wouldn't recommend it unless Kirito knows how to use Magic and Asuna can handle a longsword. It works for Monique and I because we both use longswords."

"That's…" Umaika gritted her teeth, "So sweet! But because of my dedication to Ferno I have to look past that." She burst at Monique, but Monique parried her thrust and slashed at Umaika torso again. The force of the slash was so strong it pushed back Umaika a good distance. Umaika then realized she was almost out of health. She charged her best attack. She drew a circle of fire in front of her and thrusted her rapier into the circle, leaving red dots. She slashed through the circle and yelled, "Gatling Inferno!" The dots suddenly started to shoot fireballs and tracked Monique. Moonique simply flew into the gun, dodging the attacks with ease. Umaika increased the intensity in hopes to hit Monique. In a matter of seconds, Monique was in her face. With shock in her face Umaika mumbled, "Well, I guess I lose." Monique simply smiled evilly and nodded. Monique slashed downward and sent Umaika into the ground with a big boom.

Due to it being a duel, Umaika remained with one health. She was covered in dirt and had a large red gash on her torso. She used her sword to help her get up. Everyone stared in disbelief as Umaika struggled to get up. Her arms were too weak to hold her sword, and she fell face first into the dirt. Umaika began to tear up when a hand appeared in front of her to help her up. She looked at who the hand belonged to, expecting it to be the Lieutenant or Ferno. Instead, she saw the glooming face of Monique, her hair and eyes still glowing and the black blade in her left hand. Umaika cowered slightly. Monique sighed and let go of the black blade. It crumbled to ash as it fell and vanished before it hit the ground. Monique suddenly collapsed onto her knees in exhaustion. Umaika just watched as Monique's battle face melted back into her usual soft diplomat expression.

"Somehow, I knew you two would be tired." They turned to see Ferno walking toward them. Monique scoffed, "Did you expect anything less from me?" Ferno shook his head, "Of course not. Umaika, you gave quite the fight. Still got plenty to work on though." Umaika buried her face in both shame and embarrassment. Ferno sighed and offered his hand to Umaika. She took his hand and he helped her sit up on the grass. He summoned two potions and handed them to the two women. Umaika felt the fatigue leave her body and stood up slowly. She looked around and only saw the three of them and the rest of their friends, but no other Salamanders in sight. "Where's everyone else?" Ferno shook his head, "They left right after you got blasted into the ground. Disgraceful really." Umaika looked towards the ground in shame. Tears began to welt up when she felt another hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Monique looking at her with a certain softness in her eyes rather than the usual piercing gaze, "Even if the higher-ups used you, you gave an amazing fight. You can be proud of that." Tears started to roll down Umaika's face as she hugged Monique, "I'm so sorry! I caused you guys so much trouble out of my own selfishness. I used to hate you but now I can't hate you." Monique returned Umaika's sudden embrace calmly, "It's okay. All I ask of you is to work to redeem your selfishness." Umaika pulled away and nodded.

Everyone else gathered around as well. Liz patted Umaika's shoulder assuringly, "Don't be so hard on yourself. We've all wanted someone that we can't have." She looked at Kirito and Asuna, who were talking to Ferno and Monique. Umaika looked around, wiping the tears from her eyes, "You've all been through this?" Sinon nodded, "Best thing you can do is wish them the best and try to prevent such bad things from happening to them." Umaika sniffled and wiped away the last of her tears, "Thank you, I appreciate the condolences. I just wanna get my revenge on those Salamanders for using me." Liz piped up, "Funny you should mention that. Those two are gonna shake the ground with their break from Salamander association. That might be your chance. Plus, you can learn a thing or two about using a rapier from that blue-haired one over there." Umaika looked at Asuna, "The magic user?" Leafa chuckled, "Actually, she's one of the best rapier users I've ever seen. She's also known as the Beserker Healer, you know." Umaika smiled, "I appreciate it, offering so much help to someone you don't know." Silica tuned in, "Well of course, you were used for personal gain. It's just wrong." Liz looked at Umaika, "So why don't we work on that revenge?" Umaika nodded and all of them cheered in unison. The other four looked at the crowd in confusion.

 **AN: Yes I have died but I NOW HAVE RISEN FROM THE DEAD. In Seriousness, I just got extremely busy over the summer and lost my motivation to write, but I would hate to leave it unfinished. I already have the next chapters in mind so stay tuned for that. Till next time**

 **-EMAZINGWAFFLE**


	7. Chapter 7

Klein stood and waited in the busy street. He was told by Kirito to meet him near the tournament sign-up in a Salamander-owned neutral city. He looked at the sign up table across the street in an open courtyard and noticed a large crowd. Despite that, he saw no one stepping up to the table. The Salamander woman at the desk was stunning in Klein's eyes, but he chose not to approach due to the flock of guys already on her. He sighed and leaned against a wall.

Finally, he looked up and saw Kirito and Leafa fly in from above. "Klein! Glad you made it." Kirito said upon touching down. Klein bumped fists with the Spriggan, "Luckily I had some free time, so what are we doing here?" Leafa pointed to the courtyard, "To check out this tournament." Klein sighed, "Already did that. Supposedly it's just a bunch of people fighting one guy. Seems unfair to a degree, but I have no idea which side has the advantage." Kirito nodded, "Guess we should check it out to see for ourselves."

As soon as they entered the courtyard, a voice called out to Kirito and Leafa. Monique touched down near them, "Hello you two, good to see you again." Before either of them could reply, Klein quickly shuffled in front of them and stuck out his hand, "My name is Klein. So unexpected to see you here Ma'am. I must say you are looking as great as ever today. May I escort you on a walk through the town? If you need anything please let me know." Monique chuckled, "Hello Klein, I appreciate your enthusiasm but I have an escort, although he seems not to be here yet." Leafa shook her head, "Ferno is probably on his way. Also, what happened to your hair?"

Monique's dark hair was now a greyish white, with it fading to a dark red at the end and at the front which covered her eye. She touched her hair, "I just felt like I needed a change, how does it look?" Klein was the first to respond, "It looks great! Words can't describe it." Suddenly, he had a realization. He turned to Leafa, "Did you say Ferno?" Leafa simply nodded with a confused look. He turned to Monique, "Agh that salamander, how dare he! Monique - I mean, Ma'am, I urge you to not be associated with that traitor." Monique's expression turned a bit more cold, "While I appreciate your concern Klein, it is not up to you who my partner is." Klein looked even more shocked, "Partner? Oh man, this isn't good. Ma'am -" Klein was cut off by the infamous salamander himself touching down near them.

Before he could wave at his friends, Klein stomped towards him, "You! Ferno. Duel me, right here, right now. If I win, you stop seeing our Ambassador!" Ferno recoiled, "I...what?" Klein simply shouted, "Accept!" Ferno accepted without a second thought. Klein walked away to put some space between him and Ferno. Ferno looked at Monique, "So...what did I miss?" Monique simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Leafa shouted at Klein, "Just what do you think you're doing?" Klein gripped his sword, "This traitor stole the heart of our most beloved Ambassador, and I am gonna win it back." The crowd murmured in agreement. Leafa mumbled to herself, "That idiot." Kirito piped up finally, "Seems like he has the crowd's favor. Look." Kirito pointed to the group of salamanders looking at Klein in support.

The countdown was half over when Asuna, Silica, Liz, and Sinon joined them. "Hey, what's going on?" Liz asked. Monique walked over to join them. "Seems I have some men fighting over me." Sinon saw Ferno and Klein standing facing each other. Ferno's posture was relaxed but he had a focused expression on his face. Klein had his right hand on his hilt, and was in his battle pose. He had a determined look staring at Ferno. Everyone watched as the clock ticked down to zero.

The clock expired and Klein quickly rushed Ferno. Ferno dodged it by jumping above Klein's head and hand springing off the top of his head, landing behind him. Klein kept rushing Ferno but to no results. On one of Ferno's jumps he landed on a tree. "Hey, Klein, was it? You seem a bit rusty. When was the last time you've logged in?" Klein just shook his head and flew at Ferno. Ferno jumped again to avoid his slash but stayed in the air. Ferno's dodges led to the battle being taken to the skies.

Kirito watched the fight in the air, "Ferno's messing with him, isn't he?" Monique smiled, "Of course he is. There's been so many players challenging him for my hand." Monique looked at Ferno, who seemed to be enjoying the dodging. "To him," she said, "This is just another suitor who needs to be crushed." That sentences sent shivers down their spines. Kirito was curious on how many have challenged him. By the time Kirito refocused on the fight, they were well up in the air.

Klein slashed and Ferno dodged backwards. He let himself into a freefall towards the ground. Klein gritted his teeth and flew after him. Ferno summoned his wings just before hitting the ground and touched down safely. Klein landed a few feet away from him, breathing heavily. Klein gritted his teeth and yelled, "Why don't you fight already? Quit running!" Ferno sighed, "Fine, whatever you wish." He summoned two fireballs, one on each hand, and crushed them. The fire enveloped his hands and Ferno struck a boxers stance. He taunted Klein to come at him. Klein ran at him in a thrusting motion. Ferno spun around the blade and punched Klein in the back. Klein grunted and recoiled. Ferno then swooped down and delivered a fiery blow to Klein's torso, making his torso crunch down and drop his sword. He then struck Klein in the back again, knocking him down to the ground.

Ferno stood over Klein, "Man, so much talk and enthusiasm for such a disappointing fight." Klein looked up at Ferno, "Damn traitor, it's because of you why we keep losing territory and wars." Ferno chuckled and shrugged, "Well if that's the case, then the rest of you need to step it up. The higher-ups need to stop making it so easy for me." Ferno then turned and addressed the crowd, "Now, you all got a taste of my abilities. If any of you decided not to fight me, I respect that. But, if seeing me fight only pushed your decision, then I respect that as well." Klein noticed that Ferno wasn't paying attention, he slowly grabbed his blade on the ground, trying to be as quiet as possible. He gripped his sword and rushed Ferno, aiming to impale the Salamander in the chest.

Ferno stepped to the side quickly, but Klein followed him. Ferno had no choice, he summoned his sword and deflected Klein's thrust. Ferno took a step back to recover, "Fine, I guess you want me to try a bit harder." Ferno's blade glowed red as he charged at Klein. He slashed at Klein, but luckily Klein blocked it. A force of heat flew behind him and rushed over Kirito and his friends. It felt like a gust of hot desert wind. Ferno slashed again and again, creating more gusts of hot wind. Ferno slashed his final attack and Klein noticed he was in a twister of flowing heat. Ferno raised his hand and the twister flowed towards Ferno. Klein attacked to prevent Ferno from charging up an attack. Ferno simply let his hand fall towards Klein and the wind rushed Klein. He tried his best to withstand the heat, but he noticed he was suffering from burn damage. Klein couldn't withstand anymore and was sent flying. He got sent back-first into a tree and impacted sitting up. He struggled to stand up, but Ferno took this opportunity to attack. He grabbed Klein by the collar and threw him in the air. Ferno held his hands out in front of him and fireballs flew out of his palms, exploding on Klein while in the air. A cloud of black smoke floated in the air until Klein slashed away the smoke. The second the smoke vanished he saw a column of fire approaching quickly. He didn't have time to react, and took the fire blast head on. Ferno watched as Klein fell to the ground with a thud.

A small red box appeared over his head, "Down." The match tracker proudly announced Ferno as the duel winner.

Ferno casually walked over to where Monique and the others were standing. "Just another day in the office for you, isn't it?" Monique started. Ferno shrugged, "At some point you get used to it." Ferno stretched his back, "So, where's that other Salamander in your party? I'm excited to meet him. What was his name?" Kirito smiled shyly, "Er, Klein." Ferno smiled, "Oh Klein, that sounds like a cool-" suddenly the realization hit him. He turned around slowly to the incapacitated Salamander sitting against the tree. Leafa and Lisbeth were treating his injuries. Lisbeth had an annoyed look on her face while Leafa smiled nervously. "So that guy I just beat…" Asuna nodded, "Yes, is Klein." Sinon stepped forward, "No need to apologize, he's the one who acted harshly. You simply protected your honor." Monique nodded in agreement, "As you usually do." Ferno nervously laughed, "Well yeah, but I still feel bad. Kinda didn't go easy on him." "Would've been more disgraceful if ya did." Ferno turned to Klein who was being supported by Lisbeth and Leafa. Klein continued, "I guess I should apologize. Sorry for forcing you to fight." Ferno tried waving him off, "No there's no need really, it's all part of the game." Klein finally supported himself, "I am a bit rusty. Stupid of me to challenge someone despite having no sort of refresh in fighting." Ferno scratched the back of his head, "At least that was a good warm up for the tournament." Klein looked at Ferno in confusion, "Tournament?"

Ferno pointed to the sign-up table, which is now empty. "That was the sign up table for a tournament. In it, your only opponent is me, and your prize is banishing me from the Salamander kingdom and leaving Monique here all in her lonesome, never to see me again." Everyone stood in silence for a second as Ferno looked proud at that explanation. Monique sighed, "That sounds a lot worse when you say it." Ferno nervously chuckled. Monique looked at Klein, "But yes, he is right." Klein thought about the opponents that signed up for the tournament, and he knew of their skills. He wasn't sure if Ferno could beat all of them.

"Hey Ferno, you've been working on new skills haven't you?" Kirito said. Ferno nodded, "Some cool looking moves, don'tcha think? Leafa taught me the wind-looking one." Leafa nodded, "And in return, Ferno taught me how to buff my stats with element control. And how to make it look super flashy." She took a step back and took a deep breath. Ferno watched in excitement, while everyone was watching in wonder. Leafa summoned two balls of wind in her hands and crushed them. The air flowed up her arms then, with a sudden burst, exploded while she stood resonating wind. Her eyes also changed from gold to vibrant green. Everyone was amazed by the spectacle of control that was coming off Leafa. Kirito eyed the buff icons next to Leafa's name, and only noticed her speed was increased.

"Hey Leafa, I noticed it only shows that your speed is buffed." Kirito pointed out. She nodded, "Well yes, that stat received the biggest increase, making me almost twice as fast. Every other stat is buffed slightly. I'm guessing that specific elements buff different stats." Ferno piped up, "She's right. Increasing my stats bumps up my attack a lot. It helps a lot really." Kirito was a bit envious that he couldn't do that. Almost makes him want to delve into magic. Almost.

Monique clapped, "Anyway, it's already almost time for the first match. Are you ready Ferno?" Ferno looked at her and nodded. Klein shook off the fatigue, "Hey, if you fight hard every match, you'll do just fine." Klein finished his pep talk with a thumbs up. Ferno nodded and headed off towards the fighter's entrance of the arena.

…

Ferno sat on a wooden bench in the medieval-styled locker room. Weapons and armor hung around him, and few torches lit the room up. He was nervous, without a doubt. He knew this game would be ruined because of poor management of the player country. He knew if he became the strongest, then maybe he could change the whole stigma against salamanders. Everything was looking up after the pursuit of the World Tree ended, but the higher ups were looking for another source of power. They seeked conquest, which yes was a mechanic but they bit off more than they can chew. Ferno figured that by making him seem like a bad guy, he would be the catalyst to removing the bad stigma and would probably show a good side to his race. But he wasn't going to roll over and just be a sacrifice. He was going to use this plan against them, and finally put someone better in charge. He was going to make this fun.

…

The arena was packed with different fairies from different races. All mixed with each other showing little to no segregation. It seemed like no tension existed between any of the races. Kirito and friends sat in a row closest to the actual fighting area. Leafa looked towards the north end of the arena, and she eyes where Monique is sitting. She's sitting on a platform with the leader of the salamanders and another high-ranking official. Knowing the salamanders, she assumes he's their general. Leafa didn't like the fact that she sat with them. It probably wasn't her choice, but she thinks it's odd in a dangerous sort of way. Her thoughts were silenced by the playing of trumpets playing valiantly.

The leader stood from his chair and waited for the trumpets to finish. He took a deep breath and bellowed, "Thank you ladies and gentlemen for joining me today for this wonderful tournament featuring the best fighters of the other races facing our brave warrior. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Mortimer, leader of the Salamanders. Next to me is my brother and General for our military forces, Eugene!" Salamanders in the crowd cheered as the imposing general stood and bowed his head. Kirito glared at the salamander general.

"And we are humbled for having all of you join us today in watching today's fighter represent his race proud." Monique didn't like that compliment, since it was hollow. The crowd disagreed, cheering in excitement for what's in store. "That being said, why don't we bring out the brave salamander, Ferno!" The gate at the east end of the arena opened and the crowd was a mixture of cheers and boos. Ferno walked out of the gate with a slight smile on his face, but looked overall serious. He was ready to face whoever stood in front of him. Ferno vowed to crush anyone who tried to stop them. His red eyes focused on the perch that the three high-ranking salamanders sat. Monique shuddered, because she's seen those eyes before. They weren't warm like usual, they were filled with rage and determination.

"And his first opponent, Angelos!" The gates on the west side creaked open. He noticed that all the Cait Sith in the arena cheered. An average sized player walked out of the gate. He was dressed in a light chest armor plate, but wore loose-fitting pants and had shoes that seemed light but sturdy. His hair was a peach color, which matched the color of his cat ears and tail. His eyes were those of a feline, but instead were colored gold. He stood in front of Ferno with a smile. Ferno walked forward to approach his Cait Sith opponent. Angelos did the same. When they were in front of each other, some thought they were going to start fighting. However, Ferno held out his hand. Angelos accepted the good sportsmanship and shook his hand. "Let's have a good fight. I'm not holding back." Ferno confidently said. Angelos nodded, "Definitely, why don't we make this fun?" Ferno smiled, "I'm assuming you want a fist fight, like in a certain anime I could tell you watch." Angelos laughed, "Man, the outfit really gives it away, doesn't it." Ferno chuckled. Angelos voiced certainly matched his look. Overall looks young, naive, and harmless. But he knows this guy is most likely a great fighter. Ferno confirms, "No weapons?" Angelos nods, "No weapons." The two fighters shook hands one more time and stepped away from each other.

Angelos took the lead. He exhaled and slowly began to glow. Suddenly, light exploded from his body and is resonated with a yellow aura. His hair flowed upwards and his golden eyes were a lot more noticable. Ferno chuckled, "Oh, we're going that flashy." Angelos replied, "All or nothing, right?" Ferno smiled and he clenched his fists. Fire slowly begun to build around him until he fully ignited, bursting into intense flame that similarly looked like an aura. Leafa watched this "power-up phase" with awe. Ferno's hair was stained with fire sprouts, igniting and extinguishing in various places quickly. His eyes glowed a bright red.

"Fighters, are you ready?" shouted the salamander leader. Both participants readied themselves in their fighting stance, both with confident smiles. The leader raised his hand, and dropped it, "Fight!"

Angelos rushed Ferno and tried a quick punch. Ferno easily blocked it, but the force of it was felt by the crowd behind him. Angelos jumped back, "Nice, I can tell this is gonna be a fun fight." Ferno smiled, "You like that? Watch this." Ferno suddenly vanished, shocking Angelos and the crowd. Ferno appeared behind the Cait Sith. "Gotcha." He whispered as he kicked Angelos into the air. Ferno vanished again but was stopped cold by the reaction block of Angelos. After the block, Angelos threw punches at blinding speed. Ferno dodged all of them, except one which sent him flying back. Angelos vanished, similar to Ferno, and reappeared to throw another punch at Ferno. Ferno blocked and tried to counter with his own punches. Angelos narrowly began dodging. Ferno was unrelentless, jabbing at every location that Angelos was going. Both sides blocked, punched, and countered with extreme speed, shocking all the viewers.

Kirito and friends watched in awe, as they could barely keep up with the speed the fighters are going in. All they could process is after-images of the two and could feel the force of punches. Klein's jaw was wide open, "How are they that fast? I can't believe it." Yui answers, "Well for starters, they both don't have the penalty of holding a weapon, and have boosted stats from the power up." Kirito shook his head, "Even then, how could we not keep up with what's going on?" Leafa suddenly got an idea, "What if I cast speed-boosting magic on us, will that work?" Yui shrugged, "Maybe, I'm not exactly sure." Leafa started chanting her spell, and other fairies around them looked in curiosity. When the buff was fully applied, the group saw the fight in an easier manner. "That actually worked!" Said Silica with joy. Other fairies around them started to do the same, boosting their speed to process the fight.

Not like the fight was slowed down in the slightest. Ferno was still on the offensive, throwing punches like a machine gun. Angelos had a hard time avoiding them, as he caught one to the stomach and cheek. Ferno threw a particularly hard punch that sent Angelos flying backwards. By the time Angelos recovered, Ferno readied a blast of fire. Angelos quickly dodged, but looked back in fear as the pillar of fire was headed directly toward the crowd. But before the inferno could come in contact, it hit an invisible barrier that took the blast and put it out. Angelos sighed in relief. Suddenly, Ferno appeared next to him and sent him crashing into the ground with a strong, swift kick.

Angelos struggled to get up, and Ferno floated down easily. Angelos gritted his teeth, "Hey, you could've hurt the people watching you know?" Ferno shrugged, "Well I'm not in control of this tournament, so that's not my issue, is it?" Ferno looks up to the officials still watching. Two of the three salamanders glare at him, and Ferno simply gives a devious smile. The tension was felt by everyone in the arena. Angelos brushed himself off, "Well anyway, it has been a good fight. I had lots of fun." Ferno looked at him in confusion, "You're throwing in the towel?" Angelos smirked, "Nope, just ending it."

The light around Angelos grew more intense. He clenched his fists as his body exploded with bright intensity. Ferno shielded his eyes from the light. Everyone in the crowd followed suit. Ferno swore he could hear a roaring coming from Angelos. He wanted to attack, but the light was so bright he'd probably go blind looking at Angelos for a second. Eventually the light died down, and Ferno was shocked at what he saw.

The average sized Cait Sith was replaced with a bulking man-feline hybrid. Angelos was easily taller than 6 feet, with his muscle mass being doubled. His tail seemed a more wild, and his ears seemed smaller. It was because his hair grew long and puffy, similar to a Lion's mane. His fingers had claws on the ends of them. Angelos opened his eyes and gave a toothy smile, revealing his sharpened teeth. Ferno gulped nervously.

Cait Sith in the crowd cheered. Kirito and the group looked on worryingly. Lisbeth was shocked, "Now what the hell is that? Did he just animorph?" Kirito looked at Yui, "Any hints?" Yui sat on Kirito's shoulder and sighed, "I've got nothing." Kirito looked at Angelos, "What is this?"

Ferno gave a confident smile, "Looking like a lion doesn't mean you'll fight like one." Angelos narrowed his eyes and smiled. Without a word, Angelos vanished. Before Ferno could react, Angelos appeared in front of him. All Ferno could do was look up at him. Angelos grabbed the salamander by the neck and raised him to head level. Angelos smirked as Ferno struggled against his strong grip, "You were saying, Salamander." Ferno simply choked, struggling to make words. Angelos punched Ferno, sending him flying backwards. Angelos appeared in the Ferno's flight path and kicked him vertically in the air, with Ferno only having an eyeful of sky. Angelos cut him off, stopping his momentum with a blow to the stomach. Ferno gagged, but before he can recover, was blasted into the ground by a blast of light. Ferno struggled to get up.

Kirito and the group watched this new part of the fight in front of them. They watched Angelos touch down on the ground and kick Ferno like he was worthless. Ferno coughed and stood up while clutching his stomach. Kirito seemed frustrated, "Can't believe he's going down this early." Asuna looked up at Monique, who hung her head in shame.

Angelos stood triumphantly, "Is that really all you got? Disappointing." Ferno looked at him, "Oh you wish it was." Angelos looked at him with curiosity. Fire suddenly swallowed Ferno, with the flames so thick his outline barely bled through. Angelos kept a straight face, and made no attempt to disrupt the ball of fire in front of him. Angelos lost his focus for a second as something rushed out of the fire and punched him, sending him flying backwards, cracking the walls of the arena. Angelos struggled to focus on the thing, as it was covered in smoke with traces of flame coming off of its body. Suddenly, two scaly wings emerged from the things back, and flapped the smoke away. Ferno stood in the fading smoke cloud. Horns protruded from his head, while his gritted teeth were sharper and fang-like. His slightly open hands revealed claws on his fingers, while his arms had dots of scales on them. He also now had a long, reptile-like tail. His pupils changed from human to reptile, glaring right at Angelos.

"Kirito, look!" Silica pointed at the large monitor at the top of the arena. Kirito looked up and saw what she was pointing out. It was a status monitor for the fighters, which described their health, mana, and status modifications. Including this, it also had pictures of the two fighters. Angelos' picture was him in his Lion forme, but Ferno's picture hasn't updated, but seemed a bit staticy and glitchy.

Angelos came up wobbly, "Aha, now that's what I'm talking about." He smiled and held his fist in the air, "Our battle will be legendary!" He starts laughing to himself as the crowd look around nervously. Liz buried her face in her hands, "Ferno, please." Angelos heard the flap of wings and suddenly Ferno had his clawed hands around his throat. Tight. "You talk too much. Allow me to take you down a peg." He turned a full 180 and slammed Angelos into the ground, then suddenly unleashing a blast of fire. Angelos stepped up from the crater singing. He spat on the ground, "Okay, let's play rough."

Angelos rushed Ferno and threw a quick punch. Ferno easily blocked the punch. Angelos looked a bit shocked but tried punching again, and again, and again. None of the attacks inflicted damage. On one punch, Ferno grabbed Angelos' fist, then punched him. The punch was strong it sent Angelos reeling back. Ferno gave Angelos no time to recover. He flapped his wings and was sent forward. Ferno unleashed a flurry of punches, all connecting with Angelos. Angelos struggled to keep up, and barely dodged any of the attacks. Ferno gave one last punch that forced Angelos to take a step back.

Angelos was breathing heavily, "But, how? I thought this form was an instant win." Ferno chuckled, "And that's where you went wrong. These forms are simply extensions of elements. You learn to control it and use it, not the other way around." Ferno looked down at his clawed hand and a sharp smirk crept across his face. Angelos suddenly howled and light exploded from his body. He rushed Ferno with incredible speed, which surprised Ferno. Ferno managed to dodge his attacks, but Angelos kept going at him. Ferno noticed Angelos' eyes were just pools of yellow.

Kirito and his friends were shocked. Kirito observed intensely, "What's up with him now? It's like he's gone berserk or something." Yui piped up, "It seems that's what its called. Its a surge of energy that increases stats incredibly, but at the cost of your HP." Kirito looked at Angelos, "So as long as Ferno can survive the onslaught…" "Then he can win." Leafa finished. They watched as Ferno was too late to dodge a punch. He blocked the impact but was sent back due to the force. Everyone watched as Ferno's HP took a hit, despite the block. Monique was stunned by the hit, 'He took a lot of damage even though he blocked the attack.' She thought.

Ferno recovered but saw that Angelos was closing the gap once again. Ferno quickly crossed his arms in front of his face and ignited into flames. Angelos punched but was held back by some force. Angelos struggled to push through, then jumped back to try again. Again to no avail.

Leafa's eyes widened, "That technique…!" Asuna looked at her, confused, "What is it, Leafa?" "That's a technique… I taught him."

Leafa remembered the training session. Ferno was unable to channel his fire defensively. Ferno stood in the middle of the drylands, eyes closed, palms facing out. He suddenly heard wind approaching rapidly. He focused to have fire coat his body like a barrier, but it took too long. He jumped out of the way of the blast of wind. He landed, frustrated, "Dammit! I almost had it. If only I had more time." Leafa touched down and her wings vanished, "So I thought of something. You see your fire as a way of offense. A sword, for instance?" Ferno look at her curiously, "Yeah I guess so." Leafa raised her finger, "Then try to imagine it defensively. I'm thinking if you want to use it offensively, then you think of your fire with a desire to destroy. What about having the idea to protect?" Ferno looked down at his hand, "Protect, huh?" Ferno thought of the people he met during his time. And how they were cheated by the higher ups of his race. All the glory went to the generals and ambassadors. He wanted to protect all the people he's met from going through things like that. Especially… "Alright, I get it. Let's try again." Leafa put distance between her and Ferno. Ferno stood once again, and heard the blast approaching. He imagined his weapon, the fire, forming into a barrier in front of him. "The same fire that destroys a forest can also warm a house." He remembers she told him that. The wind approached and was stopped dead in front of him. He opened his eyes to his arms crossed in front of him, protected from the blast of wind drilling into nothing. He saw the faint glow of a red shield in the impact zone. He could hear Leafa cheering in the distance.

Leafa watched in amazement as this technique was put into action in front of her. She smiled at that fact. Asuna gave a small chuckle, "You seem very proud of that." Leafa blushed a bit, "Well of course I am, I was his teacher after all." Asuna gave a smug look to Leafa. A sudden crack refocused their attention on the fight.

Ferno still was still holding Angelos off. Ferno noticed his health depleting, and figured this was his last stand. Angelos gave one more slug and was held off by the fire's force. Ferno noticed his shield start to crack, but held on. 'Just a bit more' he thought. Finally, Ferno opened his mouth and let out a screeching dragon's roar. Angelos tried with all of his might to withstand the blowback of the roar, but couldn't. He was blown back, and snapped out of the berserk mode. "Agh, dammit," the state drained Angelos of his health and energy. Ferno stopped roaring and threw his arms to his sides. The fire he was coated in rushed down to his palms. Ferno's hands were now on fire as he approached the incapacitated Angelos. Angelos was on one knee, unable to move or fight. Ferno kept some distance as he put his hands together, fusing the fire into a single fireball. Angelos looked up at Ferno, "I guess that was a fun fight." Ferno smiled, his dragon's teeth showing, "Yeah it was. You still have a lot to practice." Angelos nodded and put his head down. Ferno raised the fireball to Angelos and released it, blasting Angelos down with a burst of fire. Angelos fell forward and a red box appeared above his body, "Down."

The crowd roared in applause. The Cait Sith girls were upset but applauded nonetheless. Kirito and his friends cheered Ferno's name. Kirito however sat and gave Ferno a thumbs up. Ferno looked up at Mortimer. Mortimer glared back, but put on a different face when addressing the crowd. "Our winner for the day is none other than, Ferno!" More applause than boos came out of the crowd. Ferno shut his eyes and a quick flash of fire ran up his body, removing his dragon features. Angelos struggled to get up, but was met with the hand of his opponent. Angelos, now in his younger form, took Ferno's hand to get up. In his other hand, Ferno offered him a potion for his health. Together, they waved to the crowd. Mortimer and Eugene got up and walked away. Monique watched them disappear into the dark tunnel, "Such sore losers."

Everyone met Ferno outside of the Arena. Angelos went to rejoin his Cait Sith group, but not before adding Ferno on his friends list, "Let's train together sometime!" He said as he ran off. Ferno nodded and smiled. "Hey hey, there's the winner of the day!" He heard Liz call out. "Ferno! Congrats on the victory." Silica said with joy, with Pina chirping with similar enthusiasm. "Good job on that fight, you are definitely not one to mess around." Sinon said with a smile on her face. "You fought with so much heart, reminds me of how Kirito was a long time ago." Asuna said dreamily. "Asuna...well she isn't wrong about the fighting part. You really left it all out on the arena floor." Kirito continued, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah man! I'm kinda glad I didn't get your full wrath." Klein said proudly while putting his arm around Ferno's neck. Ferno smiled, "Thanks guys, I appreciate it, seriously." Leafa swallowed, "Those were some sick moves you pulled out there." Ferno laughed, then slightly bowed with his right hand over his heart, "I owe this fight to you Leafa, had you not helped me improve defensively, not sure I could've won today." Leafa slightly blushed, but it only seemed like Asuna noticed.

"Ferno, I've finally found you." Ferno spun around a saw Monique walking up to them. She walked with grace and pristine that made people turn their heads. "Hey Monique, I hope you enjoyed the fight, almost didn't have it th-" Ferno's sentenced was cut off by Monique wrapping her arms around Ferno's body. Everyone flinched at what just happened. The girls blushed at how cute it was, while other Salamanders like Klein pouted with jealousy. However, they now know that it's better to suffer in silence unless they felt capable to take on Ferno. "Uh, Monique? You're kinda turning heads." Monique didn't look up at him, but mumbled, "Shut up and take your reward." Ferno smiled and put one of his arms around her. Ferno felt her lose her grip and she pulled back. Ferno was a bit disappointed. Monique noticed everyone staring at her, "Excuse me, I had to take off the professional mask for a bit." Monique gave Ferno a genuine smile, and he couldn't help but laugh. Everyone smiled at the good vibes coming off of the two salamanders. Asuna gave Leafa a glance, but looked away thinking she was seeing things.

Monique piped up, "Well, how about we go celebrate his first victory?" Kirito's eyes widened, "First?" Ferno turned and nodded, "Yup! I have my next fight tomorrow, but for now, let's celebrate!"


	8. Chapter 8

The group took to a cafe to celebrate Ferno's first victory. The cafe was moderately packed and lively, so the group didn't stand out. Ferno and Monique sat together with everyone surrounding them. Klein seemed to be having the most fun, maybe because both he and Ferno are the same race. 'It's funny,' Ferno thought, 'This guy tried to kill me earlier today and now he's celebrating my victory.' Ferno was enjoying himself, until he got a message.

He stood up, "Hey guys, I need to take care of something, I'll be right back okay?" Everyone nodded their heads, but Leafa was suspicious. Ferno walked out of the cafe and flew towards a nearby grassy plain. He flew until the town was a bright light illuminating the dark starry sky. The moon's light made the night seem a lot brighter than it really was. He touched down near a rock formation and shouted, "Well I'm here, what do you want?" Multiple hooded figures revealed themselves from behind various rocks. At last, one of them revealed himself to be Mortimer.

"Ah Ferno, you came, I was worried that you wouldn't show up." Ferno scoffed, "And miss this wonderful meeting? I wouldn't dare." Mortimer pushed his glasses in, "You had a good fight today, thought you almost lost it there." Ferno smirked, "Yeah, you wish I would've lost." Mortimer looked offended, "As if I would wish that dishonor upon anyone of my own race!" Ferno glared, not convinced, "So why did you call me here?" Mortimer smiled, "Because I want to change our agreement." Ferno shifted suspiciously, "In what way exactly?" Mortimer looked at Ferno, "If you lose this next game, I'll set you two free and I'll cease my ambitions of increasing the Salamander army's power."

A silence hung in the air. Ferno burst out laughing, "You really believe I'll agree to that?" Mortimer looked shocked. Ferno pointed at Mortimer, "Like I'll actually believe you'll hold up your end of the deal in that case. Even then, I wouldn't intentionally lose. You really have no honor, do you? " Mortimer glared at Ferno, "And you are one to speak about honor?" Ferno put his hand down, "Put anybody in front of me in that arena, and I'll beat them. Because that is our agreement. I will not change it just so you can backstab me later." Mortimer scoffed, "Fine, be that way." He looked at the other hooded figures, "It looks like once again you fail to be compliant with my plans. Very well then. In that case, plan B men, kill him."

Before Ferno could react, he felt something sharp pain in his right arm and he fell to the ground. He turned his head to see a hooded archer jump down from a tall rock and join the rest of the figures. Mortimer smiled devilishly as all of the hooded figures walked up to the incapacitated Ferno. He struggled to move against the paralysis, but as long as the arrow was stuck in his arm, he couldn't move. Mortimer chuckled evilly, "I'm sorry Ferno, you've left me no choice." Ferno tried igniting himself to burn the arrow, but the tip remained stuck in his arm. Mortimer raised his hand, "Don't even try it. Salamander arrows naturally have melt-proof arrowheads." Ferno gritted his teeth, 'Oh real damn convenient.' He thought. If he died right now, he knew his stats wouldn't be nearly as good for tomorrow. 'Those damn death penalties' He angrily thought. But there was nothing he could do. The salamander hit squad was approaching closer and closer, and he couldn't move. He stared at Mortimer, who was smiling as his men got closer.

Suddenly, a gust of strong wind blew from behind Ferno's back. The gale knocked the approaching men back, even Mortimer struggled against the force. Ferno couldn't look directly up, but he saw a pair of brown boots and white leggings land in front of him. A bright green jacket flowed to the ground behind them. Ferno heard one of the opponents yell, "A sylph? What is she doing here?" Ferno looked up to see the brown boots turn to him and approach him. He felt the arrowhead being removed from his arm. He got up slowly but was met with an outstretched hand. He took the hand as he looked up at the golden eyes of Leafa, who looked at him with concern. "You always seem to get yourself in trouble." Leafa said. Ferno chuckled, "Well, it's just my luck." Ferno got up and stretched his body, shaking off the paralysis. Mortimer didn't look pleased, "Hmph, so you got a little help. No matter. Men, kill them!" Suddenly the hooded figures charged at the two fairies. Ferno gripped his hand and his sword burned into existence. Leafa already had her sword drawn. "Ready for this?" Ferno said to Leafa. Leafa's wind exploded around her, radiating powerful gusts, "Wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Ferno smiled and ignited in flames.

Ferno ran ahead first and slashed at various enemies. Leafa caught different enemies trying to flank them. The enemies tried to attack Ferno all at once but Ferno dodged backwards, unleashing a slash that threw out a wave of fire. Each enemy attacked Ferno one by one, comboing his moves into the next target. If two enemies tried to attack him, he would use his fire fist to retaliate or use his fire to block attacks. Suddenly, large shields surrounded Ferno and started to inch closer. He tried blasting fire at the metal but it simply bounced off, not even leaving a scorch mark. Ferno willed fire to build up around him, until he exploded in a fiery pulse. The blast sent the shielded guards flying. Ferno took this moment of breath to check on Leafa. He noticed she was struggling due to being in an element disadvantage. He watched as she was slowly overwhelmed by red armor. "Leafa!" He threw a fireball at the crowd. The attackers dodged until the fireball landed on Leafa's back. "Hey! Ferno you…!" Leafa was cut off due to the lack of pain from the attack. She felt warm in the spot on her back where the fireball struck, then she began to glow. In a bright flash, her glow became permanent. She looked at the fire wisping up and down her body, but she still had no clue what it did.

One of the attackers became frustrated at his fellow companions in awe at the now glowing Sylph. "Enough gawking, die Sylph!" He raised his sword and charged Leafa. Leafa saw him coming and moved swiftly, opening slash wounds on his chest and sending him crashing into his companions. Leafa was amazed at the reaction, but was caught off guard by another rushing figure. Ferno stepped in and deflected upwards, then blasting the attacker away with a fire blast. Leafa shook off her amazement and readied with Ferno. "What did you cast on me?" Leafa said to Ferno while surrounded. "Enhancement, I'll explain later. Let's just get out of this alive please?" Leafa nodded with a confident smile.

Mortimer was not happy at the amount of time this is taking, "You worthless fools, finish them!" All the hooded attackers rushed the two fairies at once. Ferno and Leafa burst with elemental power as the salamanders approached. They all tried one swift strike, but couldn't connect with the powered up faires.

Ferno dispatched his crowd rather brutishly. Attackers tried attacking from different angles, but he simply parried the attacks and either incinerated them with fire or slashed them in critical strike points. One attacker thought he had the jump on Ferno as he brought his sword down on the fairy, but Ferno's body crumpled to ash. "Hey! Up here!" The remaining attackers looked up at the fairy hurtling towards the ground at high speed, sword in front of him. Before he touched the ground, he flipped forward and stuck his sword in the ground, right in the middle of the remaining figures. Fire erupted around him and those caught in the blast were burned away in the intense heat. When the fire went away, Ferno stood up to check on Leafa.

Leafa was taking care of the hostiles in a more elegant manner. Her attacks flowed from each opponent to the next, with all of her strikes being sharp and fast. But every time she would thing she struck an attacker down, he would get back up. She noticed a green glow around one of the attackers she just struck down. 'A mage! Of course, but where is he.' Leafa quickly thought. She tried scanning around her but couldn't see anyone standing out, since they were all hooded.

Then she got an idea, she flew up into the air and all of the attackers followed suit. She looked down and noticed one that was still on the ground. "Gotcha." Leafa whispered to herself. She formed a ball of wind in her hand and crushed it, channeling her wind into speed. The mage saw Leafa high in the air, but she suddenly teleported in front of him. He tried using magic to get away but he was struck by Leafa's wind-coated sword, sending him flying upwards until he turned into another soul flame. Leafa looked up at the crowd of hooded attackers now nervous without their healer. She rushed the group as her sword glowed green while wind whipped around the blade. She struck one target with a swift slash, then using the momentum from the strike onto the next target. Those that tried to strike her back were disarmed - literally for some. The wind that flew from each target knocked around all the attackers until there were multiple currents of wind flowing around them. Finally, the attackers surrounded Leafa from all angles. Leafa smiled as she held out her hand palm-up. The attackers looked around to notice they were in a bubble of wind, wisping all around them. She closed her hand and the wind collapsed on her, slashing every single attacker still standing. The wind didn't let up as some of the attackers attempted to withstand the tornado of sharp wind.

Ferno watched as attackers fell from the flurry above him, turning into soul flames before touching the ground. He watched as the ball exploded, sending hostile players flying. They all faded into fire before touching the ground as well. Ferno suddenly had a realization and looked around, but noticed Mortimer was gone. He frowned at the idea that Mortimer ran during the fight, but chasing him would do nothing. He let go of his sword, which crumbled to ash as Leafa touched down in front of him. But as soon as she touched down her legs buckled under her."Hey Leafa! You okay?" Leafa nodded, "Yes, but I never realized how tiring using elements can be." Ferno sat on the grass in front of her, "Yeah, I know right? You get used to it after a while." Leafa nodded.

They watched as some soul flames drifted towards the ground. The moon shone above them, high and bright. This would be a nice sight if the flames didn't represent corpses. Slowly, the flames went out, signaling the players respawned elsewhere.

When the last of the flames vanished, everyone else touched down behind them. "Ferno!" Ferno heard Monique call out. "Leafa!" Asuna also called out. The two fairies turned to see their friends running up to them. Kirito noticed how battle-worn they look. Leafa's green coat was stained with ash, while she had minor cuts along her arms, shoulders, torso, and one on her cheek. Ferno had ashes and scorch marks along his clothes, but he was littered with cuts all over his upper body. "Man," Kirito said, "did you guys have an intense sparring session?" Liz stomped over to Ferno, "You didn't hurt her severely, did you?" Liz took a step back due to the glare she was receiving from Monique, who was treating Ferno's wounds. Ferno chuckled, "It was no sparring session, I can guarantee that. Mortimer tried to get me to alter our deal, but when I said no he issued his mercenaries to attack me. I would've been a goner had Leafa not come to my rescue." Ferno smiled at Leafa, who slightly blushed but gave a nod. Ferno looked up at everyone, "How did you know where to find us?" Monique pulled out a potion, "Well it wasn't difficult. We went out of the cafe and flew up to see fire and explosions in the distance." Liz looked at Ferno, "I saw the column of fire from way over there. Kinda figured it could be only one troublemaking fairy." Sinon stepped forward, "So, Mortimer tried altering your deal?" Klein couldn't stay quiet, "Argh! That damn guy, making salamanders look like the bad guy." Ferno looked down at his hand, "Yeah, now you get it."

Leafa suddenly remembered, "Oh by the way, what was that buff you put on me?" Everyone looked at Ferno in confusion. He scratched his head for a second, but remembered, "Oh yeah! It's called enhancement. It's a temporary buff that removes the disadvantages for fighting certain elements. Because I use fire, it removes debuffs when fighting fire-elemented enemies. It includes players too. But it doesn't last that long." Leafa looked at the burn marks on her coat, "Definitely could think of a time that would've been useful."

Ferno stood up and stretched, "Man, I think we should really call it a day, it's getting pretty late and I'm beat." Everyone nodded in agreement. Ferno asked Liz if she can take a look at his armor before his fight tomorrow, who agreed before Monique had a say in it. Afterwards, everyone flew back to their respective player homes for the night.

…

Ferno opened his eyes. He took off the amusphere and stretched, feeling sore from the fire use. "Alright," he said, "that was fun. Didn't appreciate the ambush though." He sat up on the edge of his bed. He looked down at his palm and tried to will flame to his hand. Of course, nothing happened. He sighed, "Man, that gets sadder every day. But oh well, nothing much I can do about not having magical powers." Suddenly, he heard his name called from outside his room, "Asahi! Dinner's ready!" He smiled, "Coming!" He set down his amusphere and headed out.

…

Ferno once again sat in the empty armory room. Torches lit the walls but still shadows danced around the room freely. On the opposite side of the room a large gate held shut, with crowds screaming beyond them. Ferno stood up from the bench and relaxed. He closed his eyes and took a long breath in. The flames that lit the torches started to flicker, then went out as the fire flew away from the wooden stems. The fire swirled around Ferno until it soaked into his body. He exhaled and sent out a pulse of heat, reigniting the torches. Ferno brought down his menu and finalised his gear.

 _Meanwhile…_

Kirito and the rest of his friends sat in their seats. Once again, Monique was up on a platform with Mortimer, joined by Eugene. Everyone talked amongst themselves until Mortimer stood. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Hello fellow fairies, and welcome to Day 2 of this glorious tournament. Who is ready to see the strongest warriors go head to head in glorious battle?" The crowd gave a tremendous roar. Mortimer smiled, "Then without further adieu, allow me to introduce the Salamander warrior: Ferno!" The gate opened and Ferno walked out, seemingly more confident than the day before. Ferno raised his hand and waved to the crowds. Sinon noticed a glint on his wrist, but before she could point it out, Mortimer once again spoke, "And his opponent, a warrior representing the Undine race, Kawa!"

The gate opposite of Ferno opened slowly. Out walked a slender girl with blue hair, with a bow strapped to her back. She wore a sky blue combat vest and hiking shorts. Under the relatively small clothes she seemed to wear a white bodysuit that extended to the middle of her forearms and reached her ankles. She wore a black belt around her shorts, black boots that touched the bodysuit, and what seemed like white leather gloves. Her hair was short, but thick. She pulled whatever hair that flowed behind her into a ponytail. Her eyes however glinted gold. On her back was a white bow. The actual bow seemed to be made of feathers, and looked rather sharp. Ferno noticed that the bow had no string. He was both confused and intrigued.

Sinon leaned forward in curiosity, "Kawa, huh. Interesting name." Klein's mouth fell to the ground, "She's gorgeous! I'd never fight a woman that stunning, or I would lose my pride as a man." Everyone laughed nervously. Kirito focused on her bow, "But that bow, it has no string." Sinon nodded, "It must be some rare bow that none of us have seen before." Leafa suddenly had a realization, "Wait, she's an Undine isn't she? Doesn't she have access the ability to control water?" That thought hadn't occurred to anyone until Leafa pointed it out. Everyone looked nervous. Kirito sighed nervously, "Yeah, so that means Ferno is at a disadvantage here." Leafa put her hands together and whispered to herself, 'Please win Ferno.'

Ferno approached Kawa under the cheers of the crowd. He held out his hand in a sign of respect. Kawa smiled confidently and shook his hand, "It's an honor and privilege to fight you today sir." Ferno scoffed, "Oh please, I'm not old enough to be called sir." Kawa laughed, "If you insist. I hope that you will not hold back." Kawa winked at Ferno. Ferno smiled, "Of course not, and I hope you will give me your all." Kawa giggled, "You can bet on it." The two fighters nodded and started to walk away from each other. Liz suddenly piped up, "It's like they're polar opposites. One is black and red and the other is blue and white. One controls fire and the other controls water." Hearing that made Leafa nervous about the type disadvantage even more.

"Fighters, are you ready?" Mortimer announced. Ferno and Kawa both closed their eyes and exhaled. Ferno burst into flames as water rushed around Kawa's body, surrounding her like Saturn's rings. Ferno used his right hand to reach for his back, as if there was a sword strapped to it. He closed his hand and the black blade glistened in the sunlight. Kawa pulled her bow from her back with her left hand. She put her right hand where the string would be. Ferno stared at her hand out of curiosity. Mortimer raised his hand, "Fight!" He dropped his hand as Ferno rushed the Undine fighter.

Ferno launched a blast of fire at the archer. She simply leaped up. She pulled her hand back, and an arrow of water appeared drawn. A light served as the string as she let go of the arrow, sending it towards Ferno. Ferno parried the arrow with ease, the water evaporating before hitting the ground. Ferno looked up at the archer who was remaining afloat in the air. "So that's how your bow works. Pretty cool." Ferno called out. Kawa smiled, "I appreciate the compliment, but flattery will get you nowhere." Kawa pulled back another shot and fired. Ferno jumped out of the way, but the impact of the arrow kicked up dust. Kawa suddenly got an idea. She readied another shot as Ferno recovered. She fired but kept her hand in a pulled back position. She simply opened and closed her hand in quick succession, resulting in multiple arrows firing back to back. Ferno jumped and dodged, kicking up more and more dust as the water arrows hit the ground. Eventually, a large dust cloud sat on top of Ferno. Kawa summoned a ball of water in her hand and crushed it, summoning a torrent of water. She willed the torrent to circle the dust cloud until it made a dome. She clenched her hand as the dome crushed the cloud with force.

"Ferno!" Leafa cried from the stands. Everyone watched in disbelief as the cloud vanished from the water pressure. Kawa dispersed the water. She grinned at the thought that the Salamander warrior went down that easy. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a warp behind her, "Yeah, nice try." She turned just to see Ferno with his palm out at her, then blasted away with a blast of fire. Kawa felt the heat and burns as soon as she was touched by the fire. She recovered from the blast, but failed to dodge Ferno's follow-up slash, gashing a red grid across her torso. Ferno swung again for a second hit but Kawa used her bow to block the attack. Because of the force of the downward slash, she was sent flying towards the ground. She landed on her feet but definitely felt the shock of the impact. She looked up at Ferno, who smiled confidently at her. She gritted her teeth and readied another shot. She willed her water to collect at the arrow. Water flowed from her body to the arrow, "See how you like this Ferno!"

She let go and the sound of a wave crashing against rocks erupted from the string. A rocket of water sped at Ferno, who barely managed to dodge. Ferno watched the arrow turn around and speed towards him again. "Ah dammit." He mumbled to himself before flying away to avoid the arrow. He landed on the ground and jumped right as the arrow was near, forcing it to hit the ground. Before he can think about where Kawa was, he was hit in the chest and sent flying. He got up slowly as he noticed the impact on his chest was wet momentarily, before drying off and disappearing. "Impressive, Ferno." Ferno looked up at Kawa, "That fire of yours weakened the impact. Any other fairy would've been killed for sure." Ferno brushed off the dust. He didn't say a word, but readied his blade. Kawa smirked as she drew another water missile. Ferno summoned his wings, but instead of taking off, he ignited into an intense heat so thick it seemed like a simple column of fire. Kawa fired the shot, but when it struck the column, the fire dispersed and Ferno was nowhere to be found.

Kawa gritted her teeth and looked around in a slight panic. Suddenly, a shadow was cast above her. She looked up and saw Ferno approaching at incredible speed. She narrowly dodged the attack, getting sliced on the cheek by the end of the blade. Ferno landed with a loud boom and kicked up more dust. A loud flapping of wings dispersed the dust. Ferno stood up and spread his dragon wings that he know donned on his back.

Mostly everyone in the crowd gasped at the new technique, but those who saw Ferno's last fight, such as Kirito and friends, were not surprised. Nonetheless, they were in awe at the fact that he even had Dragon wings.

The admiration was cut short as Ferno rocketed himself at Kawa, who was staring at the scaly set. Ferno dove at her in a drilling form, and Kawa barely dodged the end of his sword. However, Ferno kept spinning and used the momentum to slash Kawa across her torso, adding another large red grid gash in her body. Ferno used her recovery attempt and flipped forward, bringing down his sword on her head. Kawa couldn't do much but use her bow to block the attack. Once again, the force of the strike sent Kawa down to the ground. She barely had time to react as Ferno landed in front of her. He used his wings to attempt a jab right at Kawa's face. She dodged the attack but earned another cut in the process. He followed through with the blade and flew behind Kawa. With no down time, his sword was engulfed in flames and he slashed in Kawa's direction, letting loose a wave of fire. Kawa jumped to avoid the wave but had to immediately block another slash. This time she prevented herself from being sent back down to the ground. She pushed against Ferno's strength, but felt herself losing slowly.

"Enough!" Kawa cried. Water rushed from her arms and blasted Ferno away. Ferno landed on his feet, still hissing from the evaporating water. Kawa remained in the air, water circling around her. She gripped her bow, but exhaled, "You've been giving quite the fight Ferno. I'm impressed." Ferno loosened his arms up, "Right back at you. Didn't think an archer would put up a good fight." Sinon glared at him, "I'll kill him for that." Silica patted Sinon's shoulder with a nervous smile, "Now, I'm sure he didn't mean it towards you."

Kawa held her hand out, "How about we get a bit more...intimate?" Ferno flinched, "A bit more what?" Suddenly balls of water flew at Ferno. Ferno slashed through all of them, hissing as they were cut by his blade. Kawa then threw a torrent of water towards Ferno, who jumped back. The torrent crashed in front of him, kicking up dust again. He looked up at where Kawa is, but saw that she wasn't there. From the cloud, he heard the sound of metal colliding. Swiftly, she rushed out from the dust and slashed at Ferno. He blocked the slash but felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down and saw a white blade in it. He jumped back and saw the weapon she had in her hands. Her bow had broken apart and formed two white, curved knives.

He looked down at the red gash in his side, "Well I'll be damned, I did not see that coming." Kawa spun a knife in her hand, "Yeah, no one does. I don't usually do this you know? Really, I only use the blades for…" She twirled the blade then caught and gripped it, "...very special individuals." She finished with a wink. Leafa saw the interaction and felt the coldness coming from Monique. She hopes that Ferno finishes her, cause if he doesn't, Monique sure will. Ferno smiled and readied his sword, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

Kawa smiled and slashed upwards, sending a blade of water hurtling towards Ferno. Ferno jumped out of the way but was met with the rushing attack of Kawa. He blocked the first attack but had to jump back to avoid the second one. Kawa kept up the pressure, forcing Ferno to block and dodge. Ferno then resented to just dodging, avoiding each quick slash or hack.

Lisbeth became frustrated, "He's running? Why is he running?" Kirito analyzed the fight, "He's not running, he's waiting." Lisbeth turned to the black-haired fairy, "Waiting for what? For her to get tired and quit?" Kirito smirked, "Not exactly." As if right on cue, Kawa went for an all out offensive attack. She slashed at a downward angle with both blades. Ferno jumped and spun as Kawa's blades struck the dirt. Everyone watched as fire formed during the spin near Ferno's waist, then a loud WHAP. When Ferno landed behind Kawa, his Dragon's tail was there and Kawa was face first in the dirt. There was a cheering of excitement from the crowd.

Kawa got up and gritted her teeth. Water flowed around her and surged. Ferno tried rushing and slashing the water, but was immediately blasted back. Water rushed around Kawa until it encased her, glowing blue. Then the water burst open, but flowed back around Kawa like an aura. Ferno swallowed as he saw this awakened form. It reminded him of Lisbeth's awakening, but with water instead of earth. Her eyes were no longer golden, but an ocean blue. Ferno readied his sword, but he was too slow. He heard a ding and she was in his face already. He propelled back but noticed she slashed him. Twice on his body, one on his chest and the other on his stomach.

Ferno gritted his teeth as Kawa rushed him again. He jumped back and transformed himself. In an instant, Ferno had horns and sharp teeth, with scales dotting his arms. Time suddenly moved slower for Ferno. He saw Kawa miss her lunge, so she jumped after Ferno. He swung around and struck Kawa with his tail, sending her flying. Kawa got up, dirtied from the ground of the arena. Ferno watched as the water around her cleaned off the dirt. However, it still didn't wash off the red grid slashed on her body. For some reason, Ferno was entertained.

Kawa rushed Ferno, but the stat boost from his dragon form helped in blocking the attacks. He used his claws to block and parry the knife attacks. Ferno would occasionally slash at Kawa, dealing some damage. Kawa tried another jab but Ferno deflected it. The force of the attack sent the white blade spinning in the air and landing in the dirt. Kawa blasted Ferno back with a water blast, which hurt due to his disadvantage. Kawa warped to the blade and grabbed it. The water around her spun faster. She crossed the blades in front of her face as she shut her eyes. The tips of the blade began forming bright blue balls.

Ferno gritted his teeth. Kirito stared at the attack being charged by Kawa. Kirito sighed, "He might be finished." Everyone turned in shock. Leafa turned back to the fight, "What makes you say that?" Kirito continued, "This attack is going to be a water blast coming from the blade's ends. If Ferno dodges the first one, Kawa will simply point the second blast past him, enclosing him until he perishes." Leafa looked at Ferno in concern. Ferno exhaled and looked at Kawa. He smiled and rushed her. Lisbeth stood from her seat, "He's closing the distance, seriously?" As Kawa charged her attack, the clouds became darker and darker. Ferno watched as lighting struck Kawa, charging her. She opened her eyes and he saw one of them turned back to yellow.

"Typhoon Crush!" Kawa yelled as she point one of her knives directly at Ferno. Ferno felt everything go in slow motion again. He easily sidestepped the blast, but he saw the second coming. He snapped a small flame and threw it above Kawa. He knows the second he leaves his dragon form, everything will be fast. He was ready.

Everyone watched as Ferno ran into the first beam, but dodged. The second beam came shortly after. He became surrounded on both sides by a powerful blast of water and lightning. Everyone watched as Kawa brought the two beams together. As Ferno was about to be crushed, he suddenly crumbled into ashes. Kawa eyes widened, and the crowd gasped. Leafa had the realization, she saw this move before. She looked around Kawa, and sure enough, she saw a dark figure above Kawa. Kawa looked around but heard what sounded like burnt leaves being crushed above her. She stared at the rapidly approaching red glow of Ferno's eyes above her. She cut the beams and tried to dodge backwards, but was caught by slashes. She now had two slashes on her shoulders. The dark clouds started to fade and the sun returned to the arena. The sun hit off Ferno's two new weapons, two forearm long black knives.

Everyone leaned forward in amazement. Silica asked the obvious, "But where's his sword?" Sinon slightly smiled, 'I see, so you finally use the snake charm. Flashy as usual, Ferno.' Asuna looked at Sinon, "Sinon? Why are you smiling?" Sinon snapped out of her trance and blushed, "It was nothing! I promise!" Mortimer scoffed distastefully while Monique watched, "Well that's new." Mortimer looked at Monique, "You never knew about that?" Monique giggled, "Of course not, or else I would've called the fight." Mortimer scoffed and turned back to the fight.

Ferno spun one of his knives, "Intimate huh? Yeah, I can do that." He smiled devilishly as Kawa slightly blushed. He exploded forward and started slashing at Kawa. She struggled to keep up, but she noticed he wasn't a dragon any more. She tried putting some space between them by blasting water at him. However, Ferno dodged with ease, and countered with a fiery kick. Ferno leaped at Kawa as his knives became engulfed in fire. He spun like a windmill as he got closer to Kawa. She crossed her blades in front of her and water formed a protective barrier in front of her. As the fire struck the water, a loud hissing echoed throughout the arena. Kawa tried to force back Ferno but the windmill kept spinning. She pushed with all her might but a loud CLANG broke the hissing.

Time seemed slow for Kawa. Within one blink, Kawa saw her hands in the air, leaving her body exposed. Flames flew behind her as Ferno was no longer spinning. Instead, he was crouched in front of her, beginning to rise to strike. She willed for her water to protect again, but the water moved slowly. He slashed for her neck, but the water barely formed the protective layer. The water absorbed the damage, but not the impact. She was sent flying and landed on her back. She struggled to get up from the attack. She saw Ferno in a ready stance. She gritted her teeth and the water around her cycloned around her once again. Kawa noticed how low her health was, but the bar was increasing, thanks to water's passive regeneration. It's not a fast rate, but it helps. Kawa was gonna finish this, or go down trying.

Ferno watched as the water swirled around the Undine fairy once again. Suddenly, the water grabbed on to her blades. Slowly, the small blades turned into full blown swords made of water. Kirito watched in awe. Leafa admired the skill, "Wow, so she turned her knives into swords." Kirito inspected the blades, "She's on a full on attack now." Everyone looked at Kirito. Klein leaned forward in admiration, "Enlighten us then, why don't you?" Kirito sat deeper in his seat, "The water that circled her is no longer there. She's no longer protected from Ferno's fire attacks. But if Ferno gets struck he's taking a large chunk of damage." Lisbeth grinned, "Well technically does that mean you're not the only dual-sword user in the game?" Kirito scoffed, "Well, my swords are actually swords. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have more users like that." Klein pouted quitely, "Easy for you to say."

Ferno readied himself, because he was sure she was going to rush him. Sure enough, she sped at him and leaped, performing the same windmill attack Ferno did. Ferno jumped back but the Kawa landed and sprung at Ferno, aiming for the head. Ferno dodged sideways to avoid the attack. Kawa flew quite a distance, putting some space. Ferno exhaled and felt the fire encircle him. He burst with fire as Kawa rushed him again. Both fairies went on the offense, clashing attacks with such force. The arena felt more humid due to Ferno's fire and Kawa's water. After a powerful clash, the two fighters jumped back. Both Fenro and Kawa out of breath.

Ferno smirked and taunted Kawa to come at him. Kawa gritted her teeth and crossed her blades in front of her. Her swords began to glow blue and she rushed Ferno. She combed her swings to work in tandem, with one following the other. Her swings looked like she was using whips. Kirito leaned forward, "Hey wait a minute." Asuna looked at Kirito, "You noticed it too?" Kirito nodded, "But it couldn't be. It's just a coincidence right?" Kirito shook his head. They watched as Ferno dodged all of Kawa's swings.

Kawa swung with desperation and rage, hoping to land a critical strike on the salamander. Ferno chuckled as he dodged, "Having a hard time there aren't ya?" Kawa gritted her teeth, "I'll finish you, I swear. I swear it!" She continued to swing, trying to catch the fairy off guard. "You gotta try harder than that." Ferno said, taunting the Undine fighter. Kawa felt more enraged, "Just die already!" Her slashes began sending water slashes behind Ferno. "Die!" Kawa yelled after every slash. Ferno knew his opportunity was coming up, and it was now or never. He noticed the tips of the swords began glowing again. Kawa caught Ferno mid step-back. "You're finished!" She thrusted her two swords aiming to impale Ferno. But as she reached for him, he threw one of his blades behind her, and crumbled to ash. She heard the rustling sound behind her and turned around. "Gotcha!" She turned to blast Ferno away, but as she aimed, she only saw one blade in his hand. The water beam released from the sword's edges towards the seemingly caught out Ferno. Once again, Ferno crumbled to ash. Kawa's eyes widened in disbelief. A glint above the beam caught her eye. She saw Ferno with two blades in hands, floating in the air ready to thrust. And she couldn't do anything about it. Time slowed down for her. She saw the confident smile spread on Ferno's face. She exhaled because she knew she lost. She was outplayed, and awaited her end. Ferno blinked forward, slashing his fiery blades on her neck. She watched her health plummet to 1, since a duel won't let either player die. Ferno landed behind her and spun his blades, then releasing them. Kawa's legs gave out as she fell to the floor, her blades falling next to her. A victory message proudly announced Ferno as the winner.

The crowd exploded in cheers. Monique turned and smiled smugly at Mortimer. He simply scoffed and left, followed by Eugene. Kawa struggled to get up but was met with an outstretched hand. She looked up at Ferno, who kindly smiled. She took his hand to sit upright. He handed her a healing potion as he took one himself. He sat across from her as he drank the potion, "You put up a hell of a fight. You should be proud." Kawa drank her potion, "It doesn't help that I don't win." Ferno scoffed, "It's what you take away from a defeat that determines whether it was truly a loss or not." Kawa sighed, "Well, I suppose you have a point. I really wanted to win too." Ferno crushed the empty potion, "Say, what was your reward had you won?" The bottle vanished from Kawa's hand, "The reward was simply 'anything you want. The Salamanders can give you whatever you wish.'" Ferno thought it seemed suspicious, and that reward seemed only an empty promise.

…

Ferno waved goodbye to Kawa as she joined her group. She must've been part of a guild due to every one of her friends having the same color palette of white, blue, and black. "You seem to get stronger every day." Ferno turned to the source of the voice and saw Monique approach with Kirito and Leafa. He smiled, "Well, its survival of the fittest after all." Kirito piped up, "So, can you explain how you swapped weapons? It's not that one power that lets you swap weapons with another person right?" Ferno shook his head and pulled up his wrist, "It's this snake charm that I got as a boss drop." Kirito admired the silver pendant of snake fangs. Ferno continued, "Basically, it allows me to swap my currently equipped weapon with another weapon in my inventory. I'm able to swap weapons by binding the weapons to different gestures." Ferno raised his right hand and gripped, summoning his black sword. He dropped the blade and held up both hands. He gripped his hands and the black knives formed. He dropped the knives and they crumbled to ash. Leafa watched the knives fade into nothing, then had a realization, "Wait, how were you able to warp like that?" Ferno smiled, "Easy, it's a simple weapon warp. Kawa also did it in that fight. It's super useful but does take from my mana bar, and quite a bit too. Simply, you can warp to your weapon if your throw it or lose it. And with knives, the blade flies further and faster, thus making the warp more efficient. And I have two of them!" Everyone chuckled at Ferno's humor.

"You know, Silica could maybe help you out with knife techniques." Kirito said. Ferno nodded, "Well I don't have a fight tomorrow, so we should all get together and hang out." Kirito and Leafa nodded. Leafa turned to Monique, "And you can join us too Monique." Monique looked at Leafa, then at Ferno, "Well, I suppose I have nothing else planned. I'd love to join you guys." Ferno nodded, "Well it's settled. Why don't we meet at the Mushroom Plains in Sylph territory then?" Everyone nodded in agreement. Together, they flew off to another town, all because Ferno said he felt like having something sweet.


End file.
